Suicide bomber killed in attack on Erez border post

Gaza: A Palestinian suicide bomber driving a truck laden with four tonnes of explosives tried to ram through a major Gaza border post into Israel early on Thursday, killing himself but causing no other casualties.

The attack came as Gaza's Hamas rulers reported that the latest Egyptian efforts to pry a truce from Israel and Gaza fighters had failed. Two groups, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, claimed responsibility for a joint operation.

Abu Ahmad, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, said the bombing was meant to 'send a message' to Israel that if it didn't accept a truce, 'Gaza is not going to be a place where you will enjoy stability.' He identified the suicide bomber as 23-year-old Ebrahim Nasser from Jabalya.

The truce is meant in part to ease an international blockade on Gaza that has deepened the hardship of ordinary Gazans.

In other violence, Israeli soldiers shot and killed one Palestinian and wounded 10 others, medical workers said, after youths taking part in a Hamas rally against Gaza border closures approached Karni border post, medical workers said. An Israeli army spokesman said troops shot a gunman in an exchange of fire with armed men in the crowd.

The Islamic Jihad group said it carried out the Erez operation in cooperation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah group, to avenge Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

Israeli and Gaza Strip residents living up to 30 km from the crossing reported hearing the blast.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said two other men involved in the attack were hit by missiles fired by an Israeli helicopter at their getaway vehicle. Islamic Jihad said the men had managed to leap from the vehicle before it was struck.

Separately, but at the time of the bombing, Israeli troops raided a village in the central Gaza Strip and shot dead a 63-year-old man, medical workers and Hamas said.

Robert Serry, the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, condemned the Erez attack.

"Incidents of this kind act against the interests of the population of the Gaza Strip, because aid workers and medical cases must pass through Erez," Serry said.

UNDECIDED

Ceasefire talks falter

A bid by Egypt to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel has faltered after the Palestinian group failed to secure a pledge to lift an Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza, Palestinian officials said yesterday.

Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Lt Gen Omar Sulaiman but left Cairo abruptly."We haven't decided yet the hour when cease-fire begins," said Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy leader of Hamas said.