HAIFA

At least 15 people were killed and over 30 injured, five seriously, when a Palestinian bomber blew himself up in the "Matza" restaurant, at around 2:40 P.M. on Sunday, in the Neveh Sha'anan neighborhood of Haifa, near the "Grand Kanion" shopping mall.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, with Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantisi telling Abu Dhabi television that the attacks would continue until Israel ended its operation in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Israeli troops have been occupying Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's compound since Friday.

A few hours later a second Palestinian bomber hit the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, wounding at least two people, Israel radio and security sources said.


No Mercy with Bombers

David Baker, a government spokesman, expressed outrage in remarks to Reuters after the blast in Haifa, Israel's biggest city after Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

"Israel's three main cities have been hit in three days. Palestinian suicide bombers have made terror attacks a daily event. Israel will fight relentlessly," he said.

"We will leave no stone unturned until we stop this campaign of terror directed against us."


Hamas: 'We Will Bomb Them'

Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, told Reuters the Haifa bombing would not be the last.

"They are besieging President Arafat and trying to kill him. We will bomb them everywhere...Sharon and Israeli leaders who ordered the war on our people and our president will bite their fingers from regret. Israelis will rue the day they were born," he said.