TEL AVIV, Sept 19: A Palestinian bomber on Thursday killed himself and five others on a Tel Aviv bus and wounded more than 60, a day after another kamikaze killed an Israeli policeman ending a six-week lull in such attacks.

Both Israel and Palestinian groups warned of a new wave of attacks promised by hardliners before the second anniversary of the Palestinian uprising, which began in Sept 2000.

The powerful bomb went off in the central Allenby Street area, a busy shopping area full of cafes. The bus was lifted off the ground by the powerful blast and its front mangled and blackened. Ten of the injured were in serious condition.

Israeli public radio reported that the army reimposed its curfew on all West Bank cities it occupies, except for Al Khalil, after the latest bombing, while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called an emergency cabinet meeting.

The attack was claimed by the Hamas, which said it was yet another strike in revenge for its military chief killed in July along with 16 other people in an Israeli air raid on Gaza City.

A Hamas political leader said a new wave of suicide attacks was in the offing. —AFP