Suicide blast kills 5 in Israel
Middle East Desk Report

NETANYA (Israel)—Five people were killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a shopping mall close to the city of Tel Aviv, Israeli police and medical sources said. The blast, responsibility for which was claimed by Islamic Jihad, went off at around 11:30 am (0930 GMT) on Monday at the entrance to the Hasharon shopping centre in the upmarket resort town of Netanya which has been the scene of several previous Palestinian suicide bombings.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service put the death toll at five and said 35 people had also been wounded in the attack. It was not immediately clear if the toll included the suicide bomber. Witnesses at the sight of the blast said four badly burned bodies could be seen lying on the road outside the mall. Glass and rubble littered the area while the windows of three nearby buidings had also had their windows blown out. The blast was the first suicide attack since a member of Islamic Jihad blew himself up in the northern town of Hadera in late October, killing six Israelis. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas condemned the attack as an act of “terrorism” and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.