Palestinian attacker kills three in Tel Aviv restaurant

A Palestinian gunman opened fire at a Tel Aviv restaurant early today, killing three people and wounding 31, four seriously, before he was shot dead, police said, the latest in a spiral of attacks and counterattacks by Palestinians and Israeli forces.

The three people killed were later identified as Israelis, one of them a policeman.

Earlier, the Israeli military pounded Palestinian headquarters in the West Bank and Gaza, hitting empty buildings in Bethlehem and Gaza and coming close to Yasser Arafat himself in Ramallah.

Witnesses said the gunman approached the all-night restaurant in a commercial area of Tel Aviv at 2.15am (00.15 Irish time), firing from an M-16 assault rifle. He entered the restaurant, firing and stabbing people, witnesses said.

One of the patrons, William Hazan, said he shot and killed the attacker. He told Israel Radio that there was gunfire all around, and he saw a tall man beating a shorter man. ‘‘The tall man stabbed me in the back with a knife,’’ he said. ‘‘Then I understood that he was the terrorist. Right away I started firing at him.’’

However, police commander Uri Bar-Lev said the attacker ‘‘was encountered by police, who shot and killed him’’. He said police were trying to establish the identity of the attacker.

Israel Radio said that the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack in calls to local TV stations. Callers identified the gunman as a Palestinian from the Jebalya refugee camp next to Gaza City, the report said.

The Tel Aviv attack came after a day of Israeli operations, following a Cabinet decision to increase military pressure on the Palestinians.

The military said the Israeli strikes were a ‘‘response to murderous attacks of the past few days’’.

In all, 16 Palestinians were killed yesterday, including the wife and three children of a Hamas leader, along with two other children, in an attack the military later admitted was a mistake.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told reporters that Israel needs to slap the Palestinians hard until they understand that terrorism does not pay.

Over the weekend, 22 Israelis were killed, 20 in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem and a sniper attack in the West Bank.

After nightfall yesterday, Israeli F-16 warplanes dropped at least three bombs on Palestinian headquarters in Bethlehem, on the main road on the western edge of the town, just one mile from the Church of the Nativity.

Doctors said four people were hurt by flying rocks as the bombs levelled a building used by Palestinian security.

The buildings were empty, as Palestinians evacuated offices several days ago, expecting an Israeli reprisal for the suicide bombing in Jerusalem on Saturday, carried out by a militant from the nearby Deheishe refugee camp. Israeli helicopters struck the same buildings Saturday night.

Also, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at Arafat’s headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Arafat has been confined by Israeli forces for three months. The missiles hit a building a few yards from Arafat’s office, the witnesses said.

Arafat was in his office with aides, officials said, and was not hurt.

In Gaza, Israeli warships fired two missiles at Arafat’s seaside headquarters, setting a fire in a courtyard, witnesses said.

Palestinian official Ahmed Abdel Rahman called the Israeli strikes ‘‘a very serious escalation’’ and called for UN Security Council intervention. The Palestinians have been trying to persuade the Security Council to pass a new resolution critical of Israel.

Meanwhile, the newest peace effort teetered yesterday when Palestinian minister Nabil Shaath said Saudi Arabia would not present its initiative to an Arab summit in Beirut later this month unless Arafat is allowed to attend, but an Israeli official said Arafat will be confined to Ramallah until he takes steps to stop violence.

Shaath was speaking after meeting Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who is reportedly backing a proposal to offer Israel peace with the entire Arab world in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Near Ramallah, in what looked like a botched attempt to kill a militant, an Israeli tank fired a shell at a pickup truck, killing the wife and three children of local Hamas leader Hussein Abu Kweik. Two other children in a passing car were killed.

The military said the shell hit the wrong vehicle, and Abu Kweik was not the target. Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed regret at the loss of life.

Abu Kweik went to Ramallah Hospital to see the bodies of his family, and then told supporters outside: ‘‘I swear to God they (the Israelis) will pay a very high price for this crime.’’

Also in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian ambulance, killing the director of the Red Crescent service in Jenin, Dr Khalil Suleiman. The Israeli military said the ambulance was approaching soldiers at high speed, and they opened fire with small arms.

Palestinians said the vehicle was hit by a tank shell. The ambulance driver said an oxygen canister inside exploded.

Israel has often charged that Palestinians use ambulances to ferry gunmen and ammunition. The Palestinians accuse the Israeli military of firing at ambulances on purpose.

Israeli forces pulled out of the Jenin refugee camp last night after a one-day sweep, the second incursion in less than a week.