Suicide bomber strikes market in Tel Aviv, killing 3 bystanders, self

TEL AVIV, Israel — A 16-year-old Palestinian blew himself up in a crowded outdoor market in central Tel Aviv on Monday, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 in the first such attack since Yasser Arafat left last week for medical treatment in France.

Arafat's absence has raised concern about instability among the Palestinians. Monday's blast — the first suicide bombing since September — signaled that Palestinian militants are seeking to set the pace, not Arafat's aides, who have been trying to convey normalcy.

Israel has said that while the Palestinian leader is away it would show restraint in its battle with militants.

From his sickbed in a military hospital near Paris, Arafat condemned the bombing and "appealed to all Palestinian factions to commit to avoid harming all Israeli civilians, and he appealed to Sharon to take similar initiatives to avoid harming Palestinian civilians," Arafat's spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said.

Abu Rdeneh relayed the statement to reporters as Arafat's wife, Suha, dictated it to him over his cell phone. Later, Arafat took the phone from his wife and asked Abu Rdeneh directly to make sure the statement was circulated. Abu Rdeneh told the 75-year-old Arafat — in France since Friday for treatment of an unknown disease — to take care of himself.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel "will not stop its war against terrorism," and he reiterated his commitment to his plan to withdraw settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip without negotiations with the Palestinians.

"I'm not changing my policy until there are changes in the Palestinian administration and until it stops its incitement and its terror," Sharon said.

The ground shook in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market as the explosion ripped through a dairy store and damaged a neighboring vegetable stall. The force of the blast blew the store's sign away, leaving loose wire dangling out of the wall. Lettuce and parsley were strewn on the pavement.

Paramedics treated dazed shoppers and wheeled away bodies in black plastic bags. Rescue workers dug through piles of cheese and spices inside the store in search of body parts.

"I saw lots of people lying on the ground, lots of people wounded," shopper Michal Weizman, who was about 30 feet away from the blast, told Israel Army Radio. "There was a woman whose entire body was torn up."

Police said four people were killed, including the bomber.