Suicide bomber kills nine in Tel Aviv attack

A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up at a fast food restaurant in a bustling commercial area of Tel Aviv during the Jewish holiday of Passover yesterday, killing himself and nine people and wounding dozens in the deadliest Palestinian attack in more than a year.

In a sharp departure from the previous Palestinian government’s condemnations of bombings, the Hamas-led administration said the attack resulted from Israel’s “brutal aggression”.

The blast came amid a sharp increase in fighting between Israel and the Palestinians across the Gaza border. Militants have fired barrages of homemade rockets at Israel, and Israel has responded with artillery fire. A 17-year-old Palestinian in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya was reported killed yesterday in the shelling,