The Islamic militant group Hamas has admitted responsibility for a suicide bombing in Jerusalem in which eleven people were killed and up to 50 injured. A suicide bomber walked into a cafe in the city, just 50 metres from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, and blew himself up.
Earlier, at least one person was killed and 30 people, including a baby, were wounded in a gun attack in the Israeli seaside town of Netanya. Israeli sources say that three Palestinians, one thought to be posing as an Israeli policeman, opened fire on a crowded promenade, before being shot dead.
In Gaza City, Israeli helicopter gunships fired at least five missiles at targets around Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters. Hospital sources say that at least 24 people were injured including a baby and six women.
The office compound of the governor of the city of Nablus was one of the buildings targeted. Mr Arafat has been confined by Israeli tanks to his West Bank headquarters in the town of Ramallah since December.
Prime Minister Sharon last night dropped his demand for a week's calm before implementing an American ceasefire plan. Mr Sharon has come under intense pressure from Washington to implement the deal as quickly as possible after the recent increase in violence.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, has sharply criticised the hardline policies of Mr Sharon in the Palestinian territories. Mr Cowen said that it appeared Mr Sharon did not have any political philosophy whatsoever because he knew he could defeat the Palestinians militarily.
Speaking on Nuachtiris on Radio One tonight, Minister Cowen said that Palestinians would not receive justice until they had their own state. When asked what Mr Arafat could do to prevent violence on the Palestinian side, Mr Cowen said that he believed that Mr Arafat was not in a position to stop the violence because his own people did not have a clear political process available to them.
Minister Cowen also claimed that there was nothing really new in the latest peace plan put forward by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. He said that it contained the same framework that has been proposed for the last 30 years. Mr Cowen did say, however, that the most important element of the plan was that of mutual recognition between the Israelis and neighbouring Arab states.
Mr Cowen said that the European Union did not have a peace plan of its own because under the common foreign and security policy all member states must agree before any plan can be put forward. He said that certain member states had different attitudes to the Middle East.
