Jerusalem Blast Kills Only The Bomber

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a food stand in downtown Jerusalem Tuesday, killing only himself. Police say there were no serious injuries.

CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger reports Israel already was on high alert. Palestinian groups have vowed to avenge the killing of a top Islamic militant and 14 other Palestinians in an Israeli air raid last week.

The blast occurred in one of the most heavily guarded areas of downtown Jerusalem, on Hanevi'im street. The area divides traditionally Arab east Jerusalem and west Jerusalem.

Glass shards littered the street in front of the Yemenite Felafel Stand, which is popular with Jerusalem police whose headquarters are nearby.

It was the first suicide bombing in Jerusalem since a pair of attacks June 18-19 killed 26 Israelis and prompted the army to occupy seven of the eight major Palestinian towns in the West Bank.

Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said the bomber entered a falafel stand on a busy central Jerusalem street and detonated the bomb. He said it appeared it went off prematurely.

At least five different diplomatic efforts are continuing on Mideast issues, but so is the bloodshed. Aside from the bombing, there was a sneak knife attack on civilians in a Jewish settlement, and a drive-by shooting in Jenin which seriously injured the brother of a well-known Hamas activist.

In the knife attack, at Itamar on the West Bank, the army says a man crept into the home of a Jewish settler family before dawn and, carrying two knives, attacked the couple who lived there. The army says soldiers rushed to the scene and killed the intruder, but not before he wounded the husband.

The same town was hit last month by a Palestinian infiltrator who shot to death five Israelis, including a mother and her three children.

In Jenin, Palestinians are accusing Israel of staging the drive-by shooting, but the Israeli army says it has no knowledge of the incident.

As for diplomatic efforts - the Rev. Jesse Jackson was in Ramallah Monday, meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat; Israel expects to start security discussions this week with Palestinian officials; President Bush is meeting in Washington with King Abdullah of Jordan; Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is also in Washington; and Arabs on the U.S. Security Council are lobbying for votes on a resolution that would demand that Israel withdraw its troops from territories which were Palestinian-controlled.

The new violence and flurry of talks on ways to stop it came as a large-scale protest against Israeli curfews went into a third day in Nablus, where troops are standing by, but not arresting, the crowds that have been filling the marketplaces.

"There is a curfew and we are aware of the violations," said Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Oliver Rafowicz. "For the moment, we are not responding."

Israel separately this week is easing some other curfews, is releasing some $17 million dollars worth of back tax revenue to the Palestinians, and is issuing 12,000 work permits and eliminating some checkpoints.

Some 700,000 Palestinians are living under army curfew in seven West Bank cities.

The gestures were made after an internationally condemned Gaza air strike last week in which 14 people and its target, a senior militant, were killed. They coincided with U.S. plans to discuss with Palestinian officials in Washington next month steps to reform the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Palestinians in the cities Israel reoccupied in June after suicide bombings remained confined. "(They) have tightened their siege and closure on the movement of goods and people," he told reporters.

Israel says closures are needed for its security.

Both sides say a security dialogue and talks Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres held with Palestinian moderates this month after a four-month freeze do not constitute peace negotiations.

President Bush has called for a new Palestinian leadership to replace one he says is tainted by corruption. The Jordanian king, meeting at the White House Tuesday, is expected to push Mr. Bush to set a specific timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state within three years.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, currently on a trip to Asia, is making arrangements to meet with Palestinian representatives upon his return to Washington next week.

As for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, he says he urged Arafat to focus on non-violent resistance to Israeli's occupation of territories claimed by the Palestinians. Jackson met Sunday with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and plans to go to Gaza on Wednesday to meet with leaders of Hamas, the Islamic militant group which has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide bombings.

At a news conference with Jackson in Ramallah, Arafat said the Palestinian Authority is committed to "the peace of the brave, away from violence, state terror, suicide bombers, bloodshed and confusion, which don't serve the interests of Israelis and Palestinians."

At least 1,471 Palestinians and 564 Israelis have died in the past two years of violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.