Four Israelis killed in suicide bombing
The Christmas Day attacks were the first of their kind in more than two months and were likely to lead to a wave of retaliatory violence and damage new efforts to restart the Israel-Palestinian peace process.
Palestinian officials condemned both attacks and called for renewed peace talks. Israeli leaders said the suicide bombing proved why such airstrikes were needed and pledged to continue fighting militants.
The bombing took place during the busy evening rush hour at a bus stop at the Geha junction outside Tel Aviv.
The bomber approached the bus stop and blew himself up, said Israeli Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki. The victims were identified as three soldiers and a 17-year-old Israeli girl. At least 13 other people were wounded.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical member of the PLO, claimed responsibility saying it was in retaliation for the killing of two of its members last week. The group identified the bomber as Said Hanani, 18, from the village of Beit Furik, east of the West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli forces entered Beit Furik early yesterday and blew up Hanani's house. The army often destroys the homes of militants in hopes of deterring Palestinians from attacking Israelis. Palestinians condemn the policy as collective punishment and a violation of international law.
It was the first such attack on civilians since an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber blew herself up on October 4 at a restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, killing 21 people.
Tel Aviv district police commander Yossi Sedbon said a court-ordered blackout had been imposed on the investigation, but told Israel Radio that hoped "the (terrorist) cell" would be apprehended soon, indicating that the bomber had accomplices.
A few minutes earlier, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at a car driving between Gaza City and the nearby Jebaliya refugee camp, killing the top commander of the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, Mekled Hameid, 39, and four others two Islamic Jihad militants and two bystanders, militants said.
Hospital officials said 14 people were wounded, three seriously.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said Hameid was targeted because he was planning a "mega-terror attack in the Gaza Strip". He did not elaborate. Israeli military sources would say only that the attack was to be inside Israel.
The raid was the first airstrike of its type since October 20, when an Israeli helicopter launched missiles at a car in the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza, killing 14 people, most of them bystanders. In that strike, the Israelis were chasing Palestinians who had tried to infiltrate into Israel, according to the military. Such operations in the past, which often cause civilian casualties, have led to revenge attacks by militant groups.
At Gaza's Shifa Hospital, where the wounded were taken, masked Islamic Jihad militants promised "a severe retaliation" inside Israel. The airstrike and suicide bombing came after clashes during a two-day military operation in Gaza's Rafah refugee camp left nine Palestinians dead. That operation, which ended on Wednesday, led Palestinians to cancel a preparatory meeting for a planned summit between the two sides' prime ministers. "We condemn the targeting and killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians," Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.
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