Bloodbath in Israel

Violence in the Middle East is spiralling out of control today with two bloody suicide attacks within five hours.

An explosion today ripped apart a packed coach in the central bus station in the Israeli town of Afula. First reports say a suicide bomber blew himself up on the bus as it was entering its parking bay. Regional police commander Dov Lutzky said the bomber was on the bus when it arrived. One Israeli was killed and five people were seriously injured in the blast.

The attack came hours after the killing of three people - one of them a policeman - in a frenzied gun, knife and grenade attack on two restaurants in Tel Aviv. Thirty-one people were injured, four of them seriously.

In response, Israeli troops entered the town of Dura, south of Hebron, where one man was killed and five wounded in the ensuing gun battles.

Later an Israeli woman was shot dead in her car just outside Jerusalem.

The Tel Aviv attacker stood at the window of one all-night restaurant and fired into it with an M16 assault rifle, before running into another flailing a knife, stabbing several people. He also threw a grenade which failed to explode as horrified customers dived under the tables in panic.

The terror only ended when the gunman was shot dead. One of the diners, William Hazan, said he shot and killed the attacker. He said there was gunfire all around, and he saw a tall man beating a shorter man. "The tall man stabbed me in the back with a knife," he said. "Then I understood that he was the terrorist. Right away I started firing at him." However, police commander Uri Bar-Lev said the attacker "was encountered by police, who shot and killed him".

The attacks followed warnings of a revenge strike against Israel after the deaths of 16 Palestinians in a series of raids yesterday, including the wife and three children of Hussein Abu Kweik, a leader of the Hamas terror group. They mark one of the bloodiest days since the 17-month Palestinian intifada began.

Abu Kweik went to Ramallah hospital to see the bodies of his family, and said outside: "I swear to God they [the Israelis] will pay a very high price for this crime."

An Israeli army official has apologised for the mistake, calling his family "innocent Palestinian civilians".

Later Israeli troops entered Dura with bulldozers and tanks and demolished a house. One Palestinian was killed and five wounded, according to security and hospital sources. Troops also entered the Palestinian-controlled sector of Hebron 19 miles south of Jerusalem. Five Palestinians were hurt, including a 13-year-old girl who was critically wounded, hospital sources said.

The army did not immediately comment. It regards Dura as a stronghold of Islamic militants.

Earlier, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon pledged to keep hitting back against Palestinian terror attacks, adding that unless the Palestinian side "feel they have been defeated, it will be impossible to return to the negotiating table".

Over the weekend, 22 Israelis were killed, 20 in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem and a sniper attack in the West Bank as Israel stepped up F16 jet attacks and helicopter gunship sorties over the weekend, injuring dozens. Palestinian official Ahmed Abdel Rahman called the Israeli strikes "a very serious escalation" and called for UN Security Council intervention. The Palestinians have been trying to persuade the Security Council to pass a new resolution critical of Israel.

Despite the spiralling violence, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak presented a plan to Washington that he host a summit between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Seventeen months of violence have claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people - about 900 of them Palestinians and 300 Israelis.

Israelis slaughtered in restaurant
Tragedy in the Middle East
Is Sharon to blame?