Three dead in Israel blast

A suicide bomber killed himself and two others at an attack near the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

At least 18 people were injured, some of them soldiers, officials said.

Israeli soldiers and civilians were at a petrol station just outside the heavily guarded settlement of Ariel, when a woman started shouting “suicide terrorist, suicide terrorist,” said Yitzhak Zahavi, a reserve soldier who was lightly wounded.

Several soldiers told the man to stop, and the attacker raised his hands, Zahavi told Israel Radio.

“He stopped and even started walking backwards,” Zahavi added. “Then they tried to grab him to disarm him. When they saw that he had explosives on his body and they shot him twice,” which apparently set off the bomb.

Three people were killed, including the bomber, and 18 people were injured, according to Yerucham Mandola, spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service. Soldiers accounted for a number of the casualties, officials said.

While the settlement itself is heavily guarded, the attacker was able to reach a petrol station along a main road, just outside the settlement.

On Sunday mornings, many soldiers are at the station, a gathering place for troops seeking lifts back to their bases at the beginning of the Israeli work week.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ariel, one of the largest Jewish settlements in the West Bank, is home to about 20,000 residents and about 20 miles north of Jerusalem.

“Once again, the vicious agenda of Palestinian terrorists has taken its toll,” said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office. “Like spectators, the Palestinian Authority stands by and does nothing while Palestinian terrorists continue to wage a campaign of terror against Israeli civilians.”

“We are against any action, particularly against civilians, whether they be Israeli or Palestinian,” said Palestinian Cabinet minister Nabil Shaath.