NETANYA (Israel), Dec 5: Five Israelis were killed and dozens wounded on Monday when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a shopping mall in the northern coastal town of Netanya. The attack at the Hasharon mall, the target of a similar bombing less than six months ago, was roundly condemned by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the United States, which said it would only undermine the peace process.

Responsibility was claimed by Islamic Jihad, the group behind all suicide bombings since the armed factions signed a truce in March.

Police said the bomber was carrying several kilograms of explosives in a bag but was prevented from entering the mall by a policeman and a guard at around 11:30 am (0930 GMT).

Apart from the bomber, four people died at the scene and a fifth died in hospital where another 25 were receiving treatment.

A correspondent said four badly burned bodies could be seen lying on the road outside the mall. Glass and rubble littered the area while nearby buildings had their windows blown out.

Witnesses said the blast was near deafening.

“My ears were ringing for five minutes and I was trembling with fear as one of my two daughters was inside the mall,” said 38-year-old Yaffa Silberman.

Greater carnage was prevented by a policewoman who spotted the bomber and alerted guards. They grabbed the bomber but he somehow managed to detonate the explosives.

“I shouted for them to get his hand out of the bag, so the guard grabbed him, but he pressed something — I was looking into his eyes as he pressed something and blew up,” said the policewoman, Shoshi Atiya.

Jihad named on Monday’s bomber as Lotfi Amine Abu Saada, 21, from a village in the northern West Bank.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas condemned the attack as an act of “terrorism”, ordering the security services “to catch whoever is responsible for this attack and bring them to justice.”—AFP