Fifth suicide bomb blast in 48 hours kills 3 Israelis

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AFULA, Israel -- A Palestinian woman blew herself up during a security check outside a mall yesterday, killing three Israelis in the fifth suicide bombing in 48 hours challenging a U.S.-backed Middle East peace initiative and the new Palestinian prime minister.

Yesterday's blast in the northern working-class town of Afula near the West Bank was claimed by a militia linked to the mainstream group Fatah, proving particularly embarrassing to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah leader who had denounced violence and promised to rein in the militants.

The blast went off at 5:14 p.m. at a back entrance to the Shaarei Amakim mall, where shoppers were waiting in line for a security check.

The attacker, identified as Hiba Daraghmeh, 19, from the West Bank village of Tubas, detonated the explosives as she stepped up to security guards, witnesses said.

"There was a big explosion, and my friend and I were blown over backwards," said Etti Pitilon, 19, a border policewoman. "I saw bodies, but I don't want to think about it," she added, crying.

Two guards, a man and a woman, were among the three persons killed. Forty-seven persons were wounded, several of them seriously.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia linked to Fatah, and the Islamic Jihad group both claimed responsibility for the bombing. The two militias have carried out joint attacks in the past.

The bomber was an English literature student, whom her father, Azem, described as devout. She usually wore a veil over her face except for her eyes, a particularly conservative covering rarely seen even among religious Palestinian women. She left home yesterday afternoon, saying she was going to class, her father said.

The latest string of attacks began Saturday evening, just before a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mr. Abbas, the first Israeli-Palestinian summit since the outbreak of fighting.