4 dead in blast at Israeli market
Last Updated Wed, 26 Oct 2005 11:10:49 EDT
CBC News

At least four people were killed on Wednesday in a bombing in the Israeli coastal city of Hadera, said Israeli police and emergency workers.

* INDEPTH: Middle East

Ambulances rushed to a market area in the Mediterranean coastal city as emergency workers treated people in a nearby field.

Police say a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives in the market, but other reports say explosives may have been left in a bag.

Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Israeli TV.

The bombing comes two days after a top Islamic Jihad leader was killed in a shootout with Israeli troops in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank.

The town shut down Wednesday as about 10,000 people gathered for Luay Saadi's funeral. His body was carried through the streets as mourners chanted anti-Jewish slogans.

Israel blamed Saadi for the deaths of 12 Israelis in recent months.

The bombing strains a shaky truce reached in February between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on August 28. No one was killed in the attack.

In July, a bomber killed three Israelis and injured dozens at a shopping mall in the city of Netanya.

* FROM JULY 12, 2005: Suicide bomber kills, injures at Israeli shopping mall

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for that attack.