Suicide bombers kill two Israelis

ROSH HA’AYIN, Israel — Two Palestinian militants detonated suicide bombs less than an hour apart in an Israeli town and a nearby West Bank settlement yesterday, killing two Israelis and wounding 11 in strikes that could threaten a 2-month-old U.S. peace initiative.

The attackers, both aged 17, were also killed in the explosions, the first such bombings since Palestinian organizations announced a unilateral cease-fire six weeks ago.

The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for one of the attacks, calling it retaliation for an Israeli army strike in the West Bank city of Nablus last week in which two Hamas members were killed, and said it would now return to observing the cease-fire.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade said it carried out the second attack and threatened more.

After the two suicide bombings, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accused his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas of failing to carry through on his promises to dismantle militant groups.

“In spite of commitments that the Palestinian Authority has taken on itself, before us [Israel], the president of the United States, George Bush, and the whole world, there has been no concrete action by the Palestinians against terrorist organizations,” Mr. Sharon said.

“This has permitted these organizations to reinforce, organize and arm themselves and to sabotage all possibility for progress in the peace process,” he told a group of Jewish youngsters visiting from abroad in comments broadcast on Israeli television.

The first explosion went off at about 9:10 a.m. at a supermarket checkout counter in an open air shopping mall just coming to life in the city of Rosh Ha’ayin, a city in central Israel that abuts the West Bank border.

It was the first attack inside Israel since the start of a three-month cease-fire declared by Palestinian militants. It blew out the windows at the entrance of the supermarket. One man was killed and nine were injured.

The second bomb detonated less than an hour later at a road stop outside the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ariel — just 10 miles east of Rosh Ha’ayin.

The attacker, identified as Islam Qteishat, triggered the explosive after arousing the suspicion of three hitchhikers standing on the shoulder of the road, killing one and injuring two.

The violence prompted warnings from Mr. Sharon and other Cabinet ministers that Israel would halt confidence-building measures called for under the “road map” peace plan unless the Palestinian Authority stepped up its effort to rein in militants.

“It won’t be possible to advance the political process, and ultimately the Palestinians may not get what they want if terror doesn’t stop completely,” Mr. Sharon said.

Mr. Abbas condemned the attacks and cut short a visit to the Persian Gulf to return to the West Bank, but he also accused Israel of violating the road map by attacking militants in the West Bank over the last month.

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