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JERUSALEM — A suicide bomber blew himself up at a busy intersection in Israel’s north on Sunday, shortly after four Palestinians were killed in a West Bank village during an Israeli raid.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, interviewed by The Associated Press before the two incidents, called on the United States to exert pressure on Israel to stop its attacks on the Palestinians, and pledged to crack down on violent groups.
The suicide bomber was the only person to die in the bomb attack near the northern port city of Haifa, police and rescue workers said. Dr. Zvi Ben-Ishai, deputy director of Haifa’s Rambam hospital, said 11 wounded had been brought in, and "most of them were very slightly wounded by shrapnel."
The bomber set off his explosive charge at a bus stop used by soldiers waiting for rides back to their bases after weekend leaves. The attack took place at 7:30 a.m. on a work day in Israel, when the intersection was crowded with vehicles and people.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Recent suicide bomb strikes have been carried out by two radical Palestinian groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
A few hours earlier in the West Bank, Israeli forces entered the Palestinian town of Anabta, east of the town of Tulkarem, killing four Palestinian policemen in an exchange of fire, said Tulkarem Governor Izzadine al-Shariff.
An army statement said troops entered villages east of Tulkarem overnight to conduct searches and arrest "people engaged in terrorist activity."
Anabta Mayor Hamdallah Hamdallah told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that the four police officers were shot "in cold blood." Israel Radio reported that Palestinians opened fire on the Israeli soldiers from two vehicles, and the soldiers returned the fire, killing the gunmen.
Witnesses said Israeli forces detained 25 people in Anabta. The incursion began around 2:30 a.m., they said, when 12 Israeli armored vehicles and two bulldozers entered the village. Palestinians said Israeli forces took over two floors of the Anabta village council building.
The two attacks a week ago led Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to cut short his visit to the United States. Israeli air force planes and helicopters hit Palestinian police and security facilities in the West Bank and Gaza, and Israel’s Cabinet declared Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority an "entity that supports terrorism."
Interviewed at his headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank on Saturday, Arafat said the United States had given him guarantees that the Israeli strikes would stop while he is rounding up militants, but Israel was violating the understanding.
The American envoys "said they will do their best," Arafat said. "But the Israelis are not listening to anybody until now."
He said he had arrested 17 militants from a list of 33 relayed by U.S. officials. Israel and the United States have demanded that Arafat crack down on Hamas and Islamic Jihad, arresting their leaders.
And in a day-long extravaganza of photo ops and sound bites on Sunday, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his successor-elect, Michael Bloomberg, toured the sites of suicide bombings and shooting attacks, proclaiming that the experience of terrorism had sealed a fraternal bond between New York and Jerusalem.
Amid crushing security and an admiring crowd of onlookers, the men made the block-long stroll downtown between the Sbarro pizzeria, where 15 people were killed by a suicide bomber in August, and Cafe Rimon, where 11 people were killed by a pair of bombers last weekend, including a 17-year-old boy who died Saturday.
Israelis, who have been feeling particularly friendless in recent months, showered Giuliani with gratitude, chanting his name and wishing him well. In honor of the visitors, Jerusalem city officials slapped a temporary name — "New York Street" — over a sign for Jaffa Street near the bombing sites.
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