A radical group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb blast at an Israeli army checkpoint which wounded an officer. The aim was to avenge the death of two Palestinians killed by the Israeli army according to a spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs group.
The suicide bomber blew himself up this afternoon when soldiers approached him at a northern West Bank checkpoint as he tried to enter Israel, leaving one soldier injured.
Earlier there had been confusion about the location of the attack. Israeli military sources said the attack happened at an Israeli army roadblock near the West Bank town of Jenin. However, Palestinians in the area were quoted as saying no such attack took place at the checkpoint.
The incident came as a meeting of high-level Israeli and Palestinian security officials broke up without a ceasefire deal to quell 18 months of regional violence.
Also this afternoon, in Southern Gaza, five Palestinians were wounded, two seriously, when Israeli tanks raided a Palestinian area near Rafah. Exchanges of gunfire erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen after two army tanks and a bulldozer stormed the Brazil refugee camp, near the border with Egypt.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Yasser Arafat is due to meet Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar next week. The two are due to meet in Spain to discuss the Middle East situation and a Saudi peace proposal. Israel has confined the Palestinian leader to the West Bank town of Ramallah since December. On Tuesday, Israel said that it would let him go to an Arab summit in Beirut next week if he implemented a US truce plan.
