Beersheba, Israel ? A Palestinian suicide bomber struck outside an Israeli bus station during morning rush hour Sunday, critically wounding two guards and raising tensions following Israel’s eviction of settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack as terrorism and urged Israel to show restraint. It was the first suicide attack since Israel completed the pullout, and Palestinians linked it to Israel’s deadly arrest raid in a West Bank refugee camp last week.

Nearly 12 hours after the attack, an Islamic Jihad official claimed responsibility and said the bomber came from Beit Umar, a village near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Israeli media reported that the bomber came from the southern Hebron hills, the section of the West Bank across from Beersheba. After a double suicide bombing killed 16 in the city a year ago, work on a separation barrier along the West Bank in that area was to be speeded up, but the line there remains largely unfortified.

The suicide blast was in a dirt parking lot about 100 yards from the bus station, which was crowded with morning commuters.

The bomber was carrying a heavy bag instead of wearing a vest filled with explosives as most previous suicide attackers have. Witnesses said two security guards halted the bomber, preventing a much larger attack. The guards were critically injured, and Israeli media reported that 46 people were treated for shock.

Taxi driver Itzik Ohana said he was waiting for customers in the lot when he saw the bomber, a man of about 20 with short hair who was dragging a heavy bag and sweating. The man frequently stopped to put the bag down and rest.

Ohana said he told a security guard about the suspicious-looking man and called the police.

Israeli forensic experts walk by a car covered with blood as they collect the remains of suicide bomber after he blew himself up Sunday in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

“While I was talking to the police there was an explosion,” he said.

After the attack, police raised the alert level across the country.

Abbas denounced the bombing as a “terror attack.”

“We condemn such attacks. We don’t accept them, and we call on everyone to refrain from retaliation,” he said.

Israel demanded action from Abbas.

“Israel has taken the necessary steps to further the prospects of peace with the Palestinians,” said David Baker, an official in Sharon’s office.

“This bombing … is another indication that the Palestinian Authority must take proper steps against terror, and without these steps, there will be no progress between both sides.”