World leaders reacted with horror to a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed 18 people, and urged both Palestinians and Israelis to show restraint and break the cycle of violence.
US President George W. Bush, calling on Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat to condemn the heinous terrorist attack outside a nightclub in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, urged him to call for an immediate ceasefire.
UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan said last night’s bombing, the deadliest attack in Israel in at least four years and the worst since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted last September, underscored the urgency of breaking the cycle of violence.
Other world powers including Russia, Germany, France, Japan and Britain as well as top EU officials said restraint was the only course now to follow.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mr Ahmed Maher said Israel's military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza was behind Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
He called on Israel to refrain from any violent response to yesterday’s bombing.
"Egypt asks the Israeli government to see the political dimensions of the issue in its entirety and see that its use of violence increases the chance of counter-violence," he said.