HADERA (Israel), Oct 26: A Palestinian suicide bomber killed five people in a crowded market in an Israeli coastal city on Wednesday in the first such attack since Israel’s pullout from Gaza last month.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was avenging Israel’s killing of a top West Bank commander on Monday.

“It was chaos, bodies and blood on the ground, people running everywhere,” said Eduard Khanukai, 49, owner of a money exchange shop.

Israel has been on edge amid violence in and around the Gaza Strip in one of the worst flare-ups since a withdrawal from the territory on Sept 12 after 38 years of occupation.

The bomber blew up in front of a sandwich stand in the main outdoor market in Hadera, a frequent target of attacks. Medics said five people were killed and 30 wounded in the blast, which blew out shop windows and shattered nearby parked cars.

It was the first bombing inside the Jewish state since Aug 28, when a suicide attacker wounded 20 people in Beersheba.

—Reuters