Hamas says fatal bombing is defense

TEL AVIV, Israel
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a popular fast-food restaurant Monday, killing nine other people, injuring nearly 60 and sharply heightening hostilities between Israel and the new Hamas-dominated Palestinian government.

It was the first such attack inside Israel since Hamas took power nearly three weeks ago, and the Islamist group infuriated Israel by describing the bombing as a form of self-defense.

In the past, elected Palestinian officials made a practice of publicly, though often tepidly,

Medics help the wounded after a suicide bomber at a restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel, killed at least nine people Monday. (Raanan Cohen/The Associated Press )
condemning attacks against Israeli civilians.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the blast, which took place on the second-to-last day of the weeklong Passover holiday. Its toll was the highest in a suicide bombing since August 2004.

Since its swearing-in March 29, the Hamas government has vacillated between
hard-line rhetoric and conciliatory statements that appeared aimed at staving off a cutoff of foreign aid.

But Monday, Hamas officials made little effort to distance themselves from the attack.

''This is the natural result of continued Israeli aggression and escalation, and can only be considered a form of self-defense,'' said Sami abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the group.

The powerful blast, in a crowded neighborhood near Tel Aviv's central bus station, scattered debris for dozens of yards around.

Israeli media reported that among the dead was a woman killed in front of her husband and children. Also killed was a security guard who witnesses said prevented the bomber from entering the building.

The sandwich shop, called The Mayor's Falafel, had been targeted just three months ago in a bombing that injured more than 20 people but killed only the attacker.
Israel had been on high alert against attacks during the weeklong Passover holiday, which ends Tuesday.

Islamic Jihad released a videotape of a young man it identified as the bomber, Sami Salim Mohammed Hammed, from the West Bank town of Jenin.

''There are many other bombers on the way,'' the round-faced youth said on the tape.

The attack came just hours before the swearing-in of Israel's new Knesset, or
parliament, whose 120 members were elected March 28.

The new government, to be led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his centrist Kadima party, is expected to be formed in coming weeks.

''We will now assess how and when we will respond to this attack,'' Olmert told a meeting of his party's faction afterward.