BBC

Wednesday, 28 March, 2001, 08:28 GMT 09:28 UK

Blast kills three in Israel

It is the third bomb on two days A powerful bomb on the border between Israel and the West Bank has left at least three people dead and several critically injured.

Islamic militant group Hamas said one of its suicide bombers had carried out the attack on a group of teenagers waiting for a school bus at a petrol station near the central Israeli town of Kfar Saba.

The explosion at 0745 local time (0545GMT) follows two bombings in Jerusalem on Tuesday in which 30 people were injured and one of the bombers killed.

Reports of the latest incident came as the American ambassador to the United Nations vetoed moves in the Security Council to establish an international observer force to help protect Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called a special security cabinet meeting.

Nail bomb

Israeli police say they are tightening security "in a massive way" in cities across the country.

Regional police commander Yehuda Bachar told Israeli radio they had already raised security along the border.

Reports say a suicide bomber walked up to a group of youngsters waiting for a school bus by the petrol station.

Three youngsters, aged between 12 and 15, are reported to be in critical condition, wounded by nails in the bomb.

Police said other bombs had been defused earlier on Wednesday near a market in the coastal town of Netanya and near Tel Aviv.

Hamas said the bombing represented the "continuation of the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation".

Pressure

After the latest bombings, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is coming under increasing pressure to act decisively to stop the clashes in the West Bank and Gaza and the bomb attacks inside Israel.

But the BBC's Jeremy Cooke in Jerusalem says Mr Sharon, known for his hard line against the Palestinians, may be reluctant to order immediate military action, as it could lead to further tensions and bring more condemnation from Arab leaders attending a summit in Jordan.

Mr Sharon has blamed the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the bomb attacks in Jerusalem, saying they were carried out by forces he commands.

More than 400 people have been killed since the uprising began, nearly 350 of them Palestinian, including dozens of children. More than 60 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have died.

Veto

Palestinians have repeatedly called for the Security Council to at least send unarmed observers to the West Bank and Gaza, even if Israel refuses to allow them into the territories.

A vote was pushed late on Tuesday before the council by allies of the Palestinians after five days of tortuous negotiations to reach a unified position.

But the US Ambassador James Cunningham vetoed the move - the first time in four years that America blocks a resolution.

Of the 15 Security Council seats, four western European representatives and Ukraine abstained, while nine council members voted for the resolution.

These included seven members of the non-aligned movement, supported by Russia and China.

"The United States opposed this resolution because it is unbalanced and unworkable and hence unwise," Mr Cunningham told the council.

"It is more responsive to political theatre than political reality," he said.

Anwarul Chowdhury, the spokesman for the seven sponsors of the failed resolution, said: "We have shown flexibility time and gain to accommodate the views of all sides.

"The basic intention [was] that this observer force proposal will have the broadest possible support."

Israel claims that increased UN involvement would only make the crisis in the Middle East worse.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001