Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Claims Responsibility; (Read photo caption within) *Another Female bomber Was Arrested in Tulkarm;__

JERUSALEM (Islamweb & News Agencies) - In the third Resistance bombing in as many days, a young Palestinian woman mingled into a crowd of Jerusalem shoppers on Friday and detonated a large bomb that killed at least six people. The three attacks coming after a lull of 11 days shattered the rational behind Israel's brutal so-called 'Protective Wall' Offensive the main objective of which is, according to Israeli occupation army sources, to destroy the infrastructure of Resistance bombers.

Israeli occupation sources added that it appeared her target was the bustling Mahane Yehuda open-air market where crowds of Israelis were doing last minute shopping before the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown. According to the sources she apparently changed course at the sight of police guarding the market's entrance.

Lebanon's Hizbollah 'Al-Mannar TV Station said "The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
The bombing was the latest in a campaign of Palestinian Resistance attacks in their 18-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation and occurred despite a major Israeli military offensive on Palestinian cities in the West Bank which it says is aimed at destroying the infra-structure of Resistance bombers.

At least three other Palestinian women, one no more than 18 years old, have carried out Resistance bombings against Israelis during the uprising.

Their participation in such attacks, which came relatively late in the uprising, underlines the depth of enmity and desperation in the conflict, Palestinian officials say.

Israeli occupation authority experts say the women are exploited as bombers because police are less likely to see them as suspects.

On Thursday, Israeli occupation forces arrested a woman in the West Bank town of Tulkarm who they claimed was preparing to disguise herself as a pregnant mother to carry out a similar bombing.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Resistance groups, have carried out repeated Resistance bombings since a Palestinian uprising began 18 months ago.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Israeli police search the scene of an explosion in the center of Jerusalem April 12, 2002. (Gil Cohen Magen/Reuter