Related: Palestinian suicide bomber kills 6 in Tel Aviv

               Israeli helicopter fires missile on Gaza City

    BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The international community on Monday condemned an attack by a Palestinian suicide bomber that killed at least eight people in Israel's Tel Aviv.

    In a statement released by his spokesman, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly condemned the bombing, which occurred Monday afternoon when the suicide bomber from an armed militant group blew himself up in the old central bus station in southern Tel Aviv, killing at least eight people and wounding over 40 others.

    Annan said he was deeply concerned that civilians continued to be killed by violence in Israel as well as in the occupied Palestinian territories.

    The UN chief called on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to take a clear stand against such unjustifiable acts.

    He also urged all concerned parties to abide by their obligations under international laws and to refrain from actions that may further escalate the situation and put civilians' lives at risk.

    In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "It is a despicable act of terror for which there is no excuse or justification."

    In Moscow, a foreign ministry statement said, "We firmly and without reserve condemn this bloody attack by extremists who have again raised a hand against people who are guilty of nothing."

    "All branches of government in the Palestinian National Authority should exert maximum effort to stop anti-Israeli actions, primarily terrorist acts," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

    "We call on the government of Israel to show restraint and composure despite these grave circumstances and to prevent (the situation) from sliding into the abyss of broad confrontation," he said.

    German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also expressed his condolences and sympathy for the victims in the attack.

    In a brief statement, Steinmeier called on the new Palestinian government to shoulder their international obligations to disarm and dismantle extremist groups.

    "It will be a fateful beginning for the new government if it were not to confront acts of terrorism clearly and energetically," he added.

    This bombing, claimed by Islamic Jihad, was the first suicide attack in Israel since a Hamas-led Palestinian government was sworn in on March 29. Jihad said the attack was in retaliation for Israel's "massacres" in the Gaza Strip.

    British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also deplored the bombing, calling it a "senseless and totally unjustified terrorist attack".

    In a statement, Straw said, "I condemn those who are responsible and extend my sympathies to the families and friends of those who have been killed or wounded."

    "I would urge restraint on all sides at this difficult time," he added.

    The Spanish Foreign Ministry also offered support to and solidarity with the people of Israel and their government and condemned terrorism "in all its forms" in a statement.

    Meanwhile, Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said in the AL headquarters in Cairo that he was totally against attacks targeting civilians of both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

    "Attacks on civilians, including military operations by the Israeli occupation army against the Palestinian citizens, were absolutely rejected," Moussa said.

    The AL chief also urged Israel and the Palestinians to refrain from unilateral acts and return to the negotiating table toward a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

¡¡¡¡Mitant Groups Justify Bombing

    The suicide bomber was identified as Sami Salim Mohamed Hammad, a member of Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, from the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

    "We congratulate our people on this brave operation," Khaled al-Batsh, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, told reporters.

    The group later distributed a video, showing the bomber reading from the Koran and wearing a black Jihad headband.

    Jihad, bent on Israel's destruction, also vowed to carry out more suicide attacks inside Israel.

    Hours after the attack, Hamas, an Islamic militant group dominating the new Palestinian cabinet after it swept the January parliament elections, said the Tel Aviv attack was part of the Palestinians' right of self-defense.

    "Resisting Israeli aggression is rightful as long as it continues," said Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri.

    Another Palestinian official echoed Zuhri's remarks. "We have repeatedly made it clear that the Israeli occupation was the reason for tension and continuing circle of confrontation," Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Palestinian cabinet, said in a statement.

    However, the attack drew strong condemnation from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

    "President Abbas condemned the terrorist attack in the bus station in Tel Aviv that led to the killings and injuries of many," his office said in a statement released by the official Wafa news agency.

    The attack occurred just hours before the swearing-in of a new Israeli parliament led by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after his centrist Kadima party won Israel's March 28 general elections.

    Olmert responded to the first suicide attack of his tenure by saying that "We know how to respond. We know what to do."

    The bombing came at the height of holiday travels during the week-long Passover holiday in Israel which began on April 12.

    Israel Responds to Bombing

    In response, Israel launched a series of military operations across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the wake of the deadly attack.

    Palestinian sources said about 80 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles stormed Nablus in the West Bank Monday afternoon. At least eight Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire.

    A Palestinian teenager was killed and two others wounded later Monday by an Israeli tank shell fired at the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics and witnesses reported.

    They said a group of teens were playing soccer on the outskirts of the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia when the tank shell landed near the playground.

    Three teens were wounded on the spot, two of them seriously, and Mahmoud O'beid, 19, died of his wounds shortly after he was rushed to hospital.

    Palestinian security sources said Israeli army also fired dozens of shells at northern Gaza after Islamic Jihad launched several homemade rockets at southern Israeli towns, with no injuries or damage reported.

    Further, an Israeli Apache attack helicopter fired at least one missile at a metal shop in Gaza City late Monday night, causing severe damage to the shop but no casualties, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said.

    The army said the air strike was targeting a factory used by Palestinian militants to make rockets. Enditem