Israeli dies after Palestinian terror attack

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli to death and injured another in Tel Aviv in what police called the first terrorist attack since June’s truce.

The attack came as Palestinian leaders said they settled a rift that had jeopardised peace efforts.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had threatened to resign unless Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement backed his handling of talks with Israel.

Officials said the two had resolved their differences during a face-to-face meeting late last night.

The US and Israel hope Abbas can lead the Palestinians along President Bush’s road map to peace. The ambitious plan aims to end 33 months of violence and lead to a Palestinian state by 2005.

The Tel Aviv attack came hours after the Abbas’s meeting with Arafat.

A Palestinian wielding a knife tried to enter the Tarabin restaurant on Tel Aviv’s seafront but was stopped by a security guard whom he stabbed in the neck during a scuffle.

Diners threw chairs at the attacker and he fled along the promenade with the security guard and restaurant owner in hot pursuit.

As he tried to escape he stabbed a pedestrian before a passer-by shot him in the legs, a police spokesman said.

The knifeman was taken to a hospital where police interrogated him.

They identified him as a 23-year-old man from East Jerusalem, affiliated with the Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Israel Army radio said.

Police were said to be seeking the driver of a car believed to have driven him to Tel Aviv.

One of the victims, 24-year-old Amir Simhon from the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, died in a hospital. The guard was slightly wounded.

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr said Palestinian authorities “will continue our efforts to contain these acts and to put an end to these acts. The truce will continue.”

But Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said the Palestinians were not doing enough to disarm militants and stop attacks on Israelis. The road map requires the Palestinians to disarm militant groups, but Abbas says he will not use force against them for fear of sparking a civil war.