Suicide Bomber Kills 3 Israelis

Attack Day After Hamas Sworn-In; Fatah Offshoot Claims Responsibility

(CBS/AP)  A Palestinian suicide bomber in the West Bank killed three Israelis, just days after the new Hamas Palestinian government took office and Israel elected a premier who pledges to pull out of much of the West Bank.

A huge blast incinerated a car at the entrance to the Jewish settlement of Kedoumim in the late evening hours on Thursday, sending plumes of flame and smoke into the air. The car burned for more than an hour before rescue workers could approach. They found four bodies inside.

Army Radio said police suspect three Israelis, two women and a man, gave a ride to a Palestinian in their car, and the Palestinian blew himself up, killing all four. The report said the Palestinian was dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew.

The Israeli rescue service said there were several bodies in the car, which was destroyed in the blast. A rescue service official said medics could not approach the car because it was still on fire nearly an hour after the blast.

The Israeli military said the vehicle had Israeli license plates, and there were at least three bodies in the car. They were burned so badly that identification was difficult, the military said.

Rafaela Segal, who lives at the settlement, said she heard the blast from her house, from where she can see the gas station. "I saw thick smoke rising from the gas station and at first I thought the gas station was on fire," she said. "Now all the roads are closed, except for the emergency vehicles. The smoke has reached my windows," she told Israel Radio more than an hour after the blast. "Security forces are searching the area."

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Fatah, the movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, claimed responsibility. It was the first such attack by Fatah since a cease-fire was declared in February 2005, and it came a day after Abbas swore in the new Palestinian government, dominated by Hamas.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian leadership, but Israel was quick to denounce the bombing.

David Baker, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister's office, said the attack "took place while the Palestinians refused to lift a finger to prevent terror attacks against Israelis, and we saw the results tonight."

Just two hours before the bombing, the Israel Election Commission released the official results from Tuesday's election, giving an extra seat to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party. Kadima finished with 29 seats of the 120 in the parliament. The hawkish Likud also picked up a seat, giving it 12. The changes were based on counts of votes from soldiers and others not included in the original tally.

Olmert has pledged to pull out of much of the West Bank and move tens of thousands of Jewish settlers from outlying areas in the West Bank to main settlement blocs. He has said he prefers to settle the conflict with the Palestinians through negotiations, but it not, he would take unilateral action to draw Israel's borders.