Suicide bomber kills three at Israeli `tip-off' roadblock

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on Thursday, killing an Israeli army officer and two other Palestinians, after Israeli soldiers ordered him to remove his heavy overcoat at a checkpoint set up specifically to foil the attack.

No claimed responsibility for the bombing, but suspicion immediately fell on the Syrian-backed Islamic Jihad, which has refused to heed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' call for an end to suicide bombings and rocket attacks in the interest of peace.

In increasingly chaos-plagued Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian police were searching for a British human-rights worker and her parents, kidnapped at gunpoint in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Wednesday, while two feuding families filled the Gaza City air with gunfire. A policeman and one of the family members were killed, hospital officials said.

The suicide bombing took place just south of the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, about 3km inside the West Bank.

The bomber was in a taxi that was stopped at a roadblock for a security check. The army had set up a number of roadblocks in the area shortly after receiving warnings that a suicide bomber was headed toward Israel.

Three got out of the taxi, including a man wearing a large overcoat. When soldiers ordered him to remove it, he detonated an explosives belt concealed beneath it, the army said.

The army said the bomber, an accomplice and the taxi driver were killed, along with an Israeli army officer, Lieutenant Uri Binamo, 21. Three soldiers were wounded, one seriously. Seven Palestinians were wounded in the blast, Palestinian medical officials said.

The Arabic satellite station al-Arabiya reported that Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. This could not be confirmed, though the group earlier this week rebuffed an appeal from Abbas to halt attacks on Israelis.

Palestinians the attacker was Ala a-Sadi, 23, a Palestinian police officer from the northern West Bank town of Jenin. They said the family had links to Islamic Jihad.

There was pandemonium at the family house, where relatives were trying to call a-Sadi on his cellphone with no success. However, no militant group released the name of the bomber, as has been the practice in the past.

Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim blamed local Islamic Jihad operatives with direct support from the group's leadership in Syria.

"Their efforts to put suicide bombers in the center of Israel are always ongoing," he told Israel Radio, praising the army for foiling what could have been a much worse attack if the bomber had reached an Israeli city.

Islamic Jihad has carried out all six suicide bombings since Israel and the Palestinians declared a ceasefire last February. Israel has been targeting Islamic Jihad leaders in arrest raids in the West Bank and airstrikes in Gaza.

Palestinian Saeb Erekat condemned the bombing and then called on all groups to honor the ceasefire.

"The Palestinian Authority is committed to the cessation of violence," he said.

Violence various types has been the Gaza trademark in recent months, increasing after Israel pulled out in September, destroying its 21 settlements.

Israeli shelled northern Gaza for a second day after declaring a 16km2 area next to the border a "no-go" zone, an attempt to stop a rash of rocket firing by Palestinian militants.

In Gaza, Palestinian officials and militant groups condemned the kidnapping of the British activist and her parents, but a full day later, they were still unable to locate the kidnappers or the victims.

"We have nothing new on the case," said Gaza police chief Alaa Hosni after sundown on Thursday. "We are continuing our search efforts, and we will not stop until the British family is safely returned."