Hamas claim responsibility for West Bank blast

Islamic militant group Hamas has claimed responsibility for a West Bank explosion in which three people died.

The group said seven more bombers are ready to strike.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a group of Israeli teenagers waiting for a lift to school, killing two along with himself.

Four others were hurt, including one who is critical, in the second suicide attack within 24 hours.

The blast went off in the car park of a petrol station near the village of Sdeh Hemet, close to the West Bank in northern Israel.

The police chief of the nearby town of Kfar Saba, Shimon Buchbut, said the blast was apparently set off by a suicide bomber.

A doctor who arrived at the scene shortly after the blast said one of the dead was an Arab.

"I saw three young fellows lying on the ground. They looked in really bad shape," said a customer at the station. "Another was wounded, but was still standing up."

White plastic bags covered the three bodies on the ground near the petrol pumps. Troops sealed off the area, searching for additional explosives.

Elsewhere two bombs were discovered and safely exploded in the open-air markets of the towns of Netanya and Petah Tikvah.

Police have said they expected an increase in the pace of bombings during the Arab League summit which ends in Jordan today.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called emergency talks today.