Four Israelis killed in suicide bombing

A PALESTINIAN suicide bombing at a bus stop outside Tel Aviv killed four young Israelis just minutes after an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car in Gaza, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and four others.

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.