A suspected Palestinian attacked a packed wedding hall in the Israeli town of Hadera tonight, killing himself and four other people and wounding at least 20, police said.
A police spokesman gave few details but a police source said the man, apparently on a suicide mission, had undetonated explosives on him and several threw grenades into the hall. It was not clear if he also shot at the crowd.
The source said the attacker had been shot but it was not clear if he had been killed.
"A man entered the wedding hall and opened fire. Dozens of people were hit," an ambulance worker told Israel's Channel Twotelevision.
"A terrorist entered the wedding hall, threw several grenades. There are five dead at this time, and a number of wounded," a police spokesman said.
The attack followed a surge in bloodshed in the past week which has ended a three-week lull in more than 15 months of violence since the Palestinians began an uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000.
It appeared to be the heaviest death toll in any attack for about a month - since a wave of Palestinian suicide attacks which prompted Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to order a truce under heavy international pressure.
Yossi Elbaz, owner of the Armon David wedding hall, told Channel Two television: "The terrorist came in shooting. He fired all over the hall."
Police and border police patrolling nearby rushed to the scene as did ambulances.