Israel launches strikes after suicide bombing

The blast scene outside the shopping center in Netanya

NETANYA, Israel (CNN) -- At least six Israelis were killed Friday morning in this seaside town when a Hamas suicide bomber set off explosives strapped to his body as he tried to enter a crowded shopping mall. The bomber also died in the incident.

In addition to the seven dead, nearly 100 people were wounded, a police spokesman said. At least six of those admitted to a hospital were reported to be in a serious condition.

Hours later Israeli jets hit two targets in the West Bank. A police headquarters in Nablus was hit killing four people and injuring seven, Palestinian officials said. More people were trapped in the rubble of the building, they added.

In Ramallah, a member of Force 17, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's elite guard, was killed when Israeli jets attacked a facility there, Palestinian officials said. More people were reported trapped in the rubble of that building.

The Israel Defense Forces had no immediate comment on the strikes.

VIDEO CNN's Mike Hanna has more on the latest act of violence in the turbulent Mideast (May 18) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Sheila MacVicar has more on the continuing violence in the Mideast (May 16) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO CNN's Mike Hanna: Diplomatic moves appear to be on hold 564K/52 sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Sheila Macvicar: Bomb hidden in oversized blue coat 525K/48 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO U.N. Security Council delays action on Middle East CNN's Sheila MacVicar describes bomb scene

In a separate incident near Ramallah, an Israeli car was fired on, killing an Israeli man and injuring an Israeli woman, the IDF said.

Netanya police said the bomber set off his explosives when he was turned away by a security guard when he tried to enter the crowded Hadarim shopping mall on the outskirts of the city. Witnesses said despite balmy temperatures, the bomber was wearing a heavy blue coat as he tried to enter the mall.

The Israeli government blamed the Palestinian Authority for the blast. The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing and the killing of "innocent civilians."

News of the terror attack was cheered at a Hamas rally in Ramallah. Hamas claimed responsibility for the killings, identifying the suicide bomber as a 20-year-old carpenter from the Tulkarem and threatening further bomb attacks.

At the White House, President Bush condemned the bombing and said that "violence will never lead to peace in the Middle East."

'Hysteria'

Witnesses told Israeli radio of having seen a man wearing a large blue jacket before the explosion.

"It was a very big blast and I think that many people were killed," the AP reported one witness as telling Israeli radio.

The glass front of the modern shopping block was shattered in the blast.

Shopper Mazal Tarshish told the AP that she was on the top floor of the building at the time.

"Everything shook, and I thought the floor was about to fall from under me. Everyone ran and there was hysteria ... Then I saw the awful scene. Everything was broken, and I saw all the injured," she said.

Dudi Aboudi, another witness, told Reuters that he saw the bomber before the explosion.

He described him as about 20, skinny, with a moustache, wearing a big jacket with something bulky around his waist.

"I didn't want to move because I knew there was going to be a terrorist attack and I wanted to save lives, but I didn't know what to do. If I scream he'll come to me. If I warn the people they'll all run and he'll go to them," he said.

"He went towards the southern entrance of the mall...he went and returned, came and went a few times...he stopped, looked, his hands in his pockets, then he returned to the entrance of the mall and we heard a huge explosion."

Netanya is about six miles from the West Bank and has been the scene of several bomb attacks by Palestinian militants.

A bomb killed two people in Netanya in March and about 40 were wounded in a bomb blast in the town in January.