HIGHLIGHTS: Settlement Targeted For the 2nd Time in as Many Weeks||PA Condemns Bombing||Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Claim Responsibility||STORY: A Palestinian bomber Wednesday blew himself up in a crowded pedestrian mall in Rishon Letzion, Israel, killing three Israelis and wounding at least 40 others. The Resistance attack marked the second time in two weeks a Palestinian bombing has hit the town, which is located about 15 miles southeast of Tel Aviv.
Police cordoned off the area as crowds of people gathered in the streets. (Read photo caption)

The bombing occurred around 9:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. EDT).

Avi Zohar with the Israeli Rescue Service said at least 20 people were seriously wounded when the bomber blew himself up "in the center of the commercial and resort area." He said at least 20 others were injured as well.

On May 8, a bomber's attack at a pool hall in Rishon Letzion killed 15 people and wounded dozens of others. The Palestinian Resistance group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CONDEMNS ATTACK

The Palestinian leadership condemned the bombing and urged its people to reject what it called a "terrorist attack" that endangered their fight for independence.

It called on Palestinians "to reject this attack...this attack gives justification for (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon to pursue the brutal war against our people."

AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADES CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades carried out a heroic martyrdom attack in the settlement of Rishon Letzion north of Tel Aviv," said a statement faxed by the group to Reuters in Beirut.

"We swear we shall avenge the blood of innocent martyrs and there shall be more martyrdom operations."

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli who was injured at a suicide bombing in Rishon Letzion is taken to an ambulance in this picture handed out by the Israeli army, May 22, 2002. A Palestinian suicide bomber struck a public garden near a pedestrian mall in the Israeli town of Rishon Letzion, killing at least two people and wounding 20, medics and police said. (Israeli Defence Forces via Reuters)