Israeli killed in suicide bombing

A suicide bomber blew himself up at an Israeli village in the Jordan River valley near the West Bank early today, killing himself and an Israeli, police said.

The bomber entered a grocery in the village of Sde Trumot and exploded, killing himself and wounding the store’s owner, they said. The Israeli died of his wounds in hospital.

The bombing came as Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was holding a series of meetings in Gaza City with the leaders of violent Palestinian groups, trying to persuade them to stop attacks against Israelis, a key to implementing the “road map” peace plan. No agreements have been reached.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, shortly after 6am (3am Irish time).

Sde Trumot is a small farming village inside Israel, three miles south of the city of Beit Shean, and about the same distance from the northern edge of the West Bank. The nearest major Palestinian town is Jenin, about 12 miles to the west.

A fire broke out at the scene as the result of the blast, and firefighters were putting it out.

The area police commander, Yaakov Borovski, said two witnesses saw the bomber enter the grocery and explode. “We are on the scene and are trying to find whoever sent him, because the assumption is that he didn’t work alone,” he said.