JERUSALEM - A suicide bomber killed at least one person and wounded at least six others in the southern Israeli city, Dimona, Monday. Earlier, Israel said commandos killed two Palestinian gunmen and wounded a third in a pre-dawn raid in the occupied West Bank. 

Witnesses say a huge explosion rocked an industrial area in the southern city, about 10 kilometers from the site of Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor.

Dimona police official Uri Barlev told Israel’s Army Radio two attackers were involved.

Barlev says one attacker detonated his explosive belt and the other apparently waited for people to arrive on the scene before doing so, but was shot and killed by police before he could act. He says the attackers had help and a high alert has been declared.

The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade militant group, which is affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the attack. Abu Walid is a spokesman for the group.

Walid says the attack was carried out by his group and by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group and that the attackers wanted to show they could strike Israel’s most secure city.

A statement issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemns the attack, but criticizes Israel for what he describes as continued military operations against Palestinians. A spokesman for Hamas called the attack a “glorious act.”

Dimona is about 60 kilometers from Israel’s border with Egypt. Israeli authorities say they are investigating whether the attackers were part of a group of militants who crossed into Egypt when Gaza’s border with Egypt was breached, two weeks ago.

Monday’s attack was the first suicide bombing in Israel in more than a year, since a Palestinian killed three Israelis in the southern resort city, Eilat, after crossing into Israel from Egypt.

Source:  VOA News