NETANYA, Israel ? Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the military Monday to intensify operations against Islamic Jihad and approved the assassination of the radical Palestinian group’s senior leaders after one of its operatives blew himself up outside a crowded Israeli shopping mall.

The attack in the coastal city of Netanya killed at least five Israelis as well as the bomber, who was identified as Lutfi Amin Abu Saadeh, 21, a factory worker from the West Bank village of Kfar Rai. More than 30 people were wounded in the suicide attack, the first in Israel since late October and the second attack at the Netanya Hasharon Mall this year.

The huge blast was set off at about 11:30 a.m. local time and left bodies scattered outside the mall, at the eastern entrance to the city, about 10 miles from the West Bank. Its glass-and-marble facade was shattered in places and stained with swirls of blood as far as 60 feet from the site of the explosion. Body parts were found as far as 300 feet away.

Among the dead was a mall security guard, who approached the bomber at the entrance. Witnesses said a female police officer tipped him off to the bomber, screaming “Terrorist, terrorist!”

The policewoman, Shoshi Attia, who was wounded in the blast, said she had been looking the bomber “in the eye” when he pressed the button “and blew up. I flew, and all I remember is that I was looking in his eyes, I saw his gaze,” she said, speaking to Israeli reporters from her hospital bed.

Israeli officials praised the guard and Attia for saving lives by preventing the man from entering the mall.

The attack came as Israel and the Palestinian Authority are preparing for national elections. Officials on both sides said the attack was intended to shape the emerging campaigns and undermine progress toward reviving peace efforts.

“Those who are responsible should be hunted down by the Palestinian police,” Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement. “The Palestinian Authority will have no tolerance for such actions.”

The attack further threatened an informal cease-fire Abbas arranged in March with a dozen armed Palestinian factions. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned that Israel might not cooperate in allowing the Palestinian parliamentary elections, scheduled for Jan. 25, unless the groups are disarmed.

Abbas has sought to improve security by bringing the groups into the political process, but Islamic Jihad has declined to participate in elections. The relatively small faction does not recognize Israel’s right to exist.