Suicide bombing

Eilat, Israel

A 21-year-old Palestinian walked into a bakery and detonated his explosive-laden backpack this week, killing himself and three Israelis. It was the first suicide bombing inside Israel in nine months and the first ever in the southern resort town of Eilat. Islamic Jihad, an ally of the ruling militant party Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it wanted to push Palestinian factions to stop their infighting and “point their arms, all their arms, at the Zionist enemy.” Fatah, the party of President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the bombing. But a spokesman for Hamas said that “all the Palestinian people and factions support this martyrdom operation.”