Four killed in suicide attack on Israeli checkpoint

A PALESTINIAN suicide bomber trying to enter Israel blew himself up yesterday at a military checkpoint set up to foil attackers, killing an Israeli soldier and two other Palestinians.

The army set up the checkpoint in the West Bank after receiving warnings a suicide bomber was headed for Israel. The bomber was in a taxi that stopped at the roadblock for a security check.

Three occupants got out, including a man wearing a large overcoat. When soldiers ordered him to remove the coat, he detonated a concealed explosives belt, the army said.

The army said the bomber, an accomplice and the driver were killed. One Israeli officer died and three soldiers were wounded, one seriously. Seven Palestinians were wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.

The bombing came hours after Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the northern Gaza Strip, beginning an aggressive campaign to stop Palestinian rocket fire. The army has threatened to shoot anyone who approaches the border.

Elsewhere, Palestinian officials imposed a series of roadblocks in southern Gaza as they searched for a British aid worker and her parents kidnapped a day earlier by Palestinian gunmen.

The Arabic satellite station Al-Arabiya reported that Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. The claim could not immediately be confirmed.

Israel's deputy defence minister, Zeev Boim, said yesterday's attack was carried out by Islamic Jihad operatives in the northern West Bank, with direct support from the group's leadership in Syria.

David Baker, an official in Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's office, noted the attacker aimed to strike during the Hanukkah holiday - a time when many families are outside because of school holidays.

Islamic Jihad has carried out a series of suicide attacks since Israel and the Palestinians declared a ceasefire last February. It also has been responsible for most of the rocket fire out of Gaza aimed at southern Israeli towns.

Palestinian officials condemned the attack.

The Israeli artillery fire late Wednesday and early yesterday marked the beginning of what the army said would be the biggest military operation since its pullout from the area. Warplanes also struck roads used by militants to access rocket-launching areas.

Palestinian militants have taken advantage of the Israeli withdrawal to approach the border, increasing the range of their homemade rockets.

Over the last 10 days, two rockets have exploded in an industrial area south of the city of Ashkelon, where there are sensitive installations like a power plant and a fuel depot.

Meanwhile, human rights group Mezan said the kidnapped British aid worker, Kate Burton, 25, was an employee of four months on holiday with her parents when they were abducted.

British officials said two diplomats were in Gaza working on the family's release.

The abduction was the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreigners in Gaza. In most cases, kidnappers have sought jobs in the Palestinian security forces, the release of imprisoned relatives or other personal objectives. All the victims have been released safely.

Also in Gaza yesterday, a Palestinian police officer was killed in a shoot-out between two rival families, highlighting the chaos and violence there since Israel's withdrawal in September.