A suicide bomber has blown himself up in a busy Tel Aviv restaurant, wounding more than 20 people in an attack claimed by a group affiliated to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah organisation.
The blast occurred one day after Israeli tanks punched into Mr Arafat's Ramallah compound in what Israel said was a response to a suicide bombing on Wednesday that killed 22 Israelis.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said in a statement it had carried out the bombing in reprisal for Israel's invasion of the West Bank city of Ramallah and vowed further attacks.
The blast devastated the restaurant on Allenby Street in the centre of the coastal city last night.
Medical officials said they had evacuated more than 20 wounded, four of them seriously hurt. Many ambulances converged on the scene, sirens screaming. Shards of glass and twisted metal were strewn across the street.
"The long arm of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is equal to the volume of Israeli crimes against our steadfast people in Ramallah," the group said, naming the bomber as Muhannad Salahat of al-Faraa village, near the West Bank city of Nablus.
"We will not let them live in security and peace so long that they subscribe to (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon's criminal policy," it added.
Yesterday the UN Security Council called on Israel to withdraw from Ramallah and other Palestinian-ruled cities.