Suicide bomber blows himself up in Tel Aviv

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near a fast food restaurant in a bustling commercial area of Tel Aviv during the Jewish holiday of Passover today, wounding at least 35 people, including several seriously, police and medics said.

Police said the blast killed an unknown number of people. Some reports say at least six people have been killed.

Israel TV’s Channel 2 said at least 15 of the wounded were in serious condition. Channel 10 said four people had been killed.

The bomber struck the same restaurant, The Mayor’s Felafel, that was hit by an attacker on January 19, medics said.

In that attack, 20 people were wounded.

The restaurant is in the bustling Neve Shaanan neighbourhood near Tel Aviv’s central bus station which was crowded with holiday travellers.

The wounded were treated on pavements.

One man was lying on his side, his shirt pushed up and his back covered by bandages. A bleeding woman was wheeled away on a stretcher.

A dazed-looking man walked near the site, his white T-shirt splattered with blood.

The blast shattered the windshields of cars, and blew out the windows of nearby buildings. Glass shards and blood splattered the ground.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Yesterday, the leader of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shallah, said the militant group was making “non-stop efforts” to infiltrate suicide bombers from the West Bank into Israel.

“The non-stop crackdown against our resistance might limit this effort, but it’s not going to stop it,” he said in a statement posted on the group’s website.