Palestinian suicide bombing kills 11 Israelis

? Two Palestinian suicide bombers attacked this closely guarded Israeli port Sunday, killing 11 Israelis and wounding 18 in the first deadly assault on a strategic installation in more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

The bombings raised serious questions about Israel’s vulnerability. Police said the bombers might have been trying to blow themselves up near chemicals, causing far greater loss of life.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called off a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qureia, that had tentatively been set for Tuesday. Preparatory talks set for today were also called off, a Sharon aide said.

Israel raised its overall terror alert to its highest level after the attacks, Israel Radio reported, as police increased security at all Israeli seaports, airports and train stations.

The bombers were identified as residents of a Gaza refugee camp and would be the first suicide bombers from Gaza to infiltrate into Israel during the current round of violence. The volatile coastal strip is surrounded by a fence and subject to stringent security.

After midnight, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at three workshops in Gaza City, residents said, causing damage but no casualties. Workshops are often targeted by Israeli forces, who say militants use them to craft mortars and rockets that are aimed at Jewish settlements in Gaza and Israeli towns and villages.

Sunday’s bombings could signal that bombers were trying to carry out a “mega-attack.” Many of the bombings since 2000 targeted buses, cafes and markets, where a large number of people gather, but the death toll in each attack never rose above 30.

Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, militants with links to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah party, claimed joint responsibility for the attack.

Eleven were killed in addition to the bombers, authorities said.

Israeli police gather around the scene of an attack in the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod. Two Palestinian suicide bombers struck the port Sunday, killing 11 people and wounding at least 18 others, police said.