Tel Aviv, Israel — A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself to pieces on a pedestrian mall teeming with immigrants and foreign laborers Friday, wounding at least 25 people. The Israeli government retaliated swiftly, sending F-16 warplanes to attack targets linked to Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The bombing, at 11:15 a.m. in the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Neve Shaanan, or "Tranquil Oasis," occurred shortly after an Israeli missile attack in the Gaza Strip killed a senior commander of the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas. Two other Hamas members were killed by Israeli troops in a separate exchange of gunfire.
Both sides issued warnings and threats of further assaults, raising fears that a recent rise in violence here is likely to intensify even more in the days ahead. Israeli police warned of further terrorist attacks, and security officials cited specific intelligence about suicide bombers and other attackers on their way to Israel.
"We don't need intelligence to know there have been a lot of attempts and there will be more attempts," said Shlomo Aharonishky, the Israeli police chief.
The bomber was a member of the militant Islamic Jihad, according to a television station run by the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. The Reuters news agency reported from Beirut that the station identified the bomber as Safwat Abdurrahman Khalil, a member of Jihad's Jerusalem Brigades.
Arafat's Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning "any action that harms Israeli civilians." The Israeli government rejected the statement, holding the Palestinian Authority and Arafat responsible for all Palestinian violence against Israel.
"We are dealing with animals and we have to treat them like animals," said Gideon Ezra, Israel's deputy minister of public security.
Friday morning's attack targeted one of the busiest spots in Tel Aviv at one of the busiest times of the week. The Neve Shaanan pedestrian mall, near an abandoned bus station, is thronged on Friday mornings with workers from Romania, Thailand and the Philippines as well as blue-collar immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
The wounded ranged from a 4-year-old boy to a 65-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who was on his way home from a wedding. Three of the victims were in critical condition, one of them a man in his forties with shrapnel lodged in his brain.
Friday morning, the start of most Israelis' weekend, thousands shopped for goods and food in the neighborhood, wandering among vendors, shops selling telephone cards, knots of men drinking beer in the sunshine at outdoor tables and figures from Tel Aviv's demimonde. Suddenly, the pleasant bustle was shattered.
"I heard an explosion like I never heard before in my life," said Meir Setone, a witness to the attack. "I saw people flying. . . . The terrorist had asked my friend, 'Is this Neve Shaanan Street?' My friend said yes and a few minutes later (the terrorist) exploded alongside a motor scooter."
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