TEL AVIV — A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up outside a crowded beachfront bar late Friday in an attack against Israel that shattered a months-long period of relative calm and instantly threw a shadow over tentative but promising steps toward peace talks.
At least four people were killed and 50 wounded in the attack, police said. The death toll could have been higher had the bomber succeeded in entering the bar or struck at a later hour, when more customers would have been expected.
Leading militant groups denied responsibility and Palestinian officials immediately condemned the attack, the first of its kind in nearly four months, calling it a strike against "the interests of the Palestinian people." Israel demanded that the Palestinian Authority and its newly installed government take stronger action against militants to demonstrate their commitment to ending such attacks.
The reactions from Israel and the Palestinian Authority were relatively restrained, with both sides apparently eager not to extinguish what had seemed the brightest prospects in some time for a return to negotiations after 4 1/2 years of unremitting violence.
The governments of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have taken halting but welcome steps in recent weeks to build up goodwill and trust, which the bombing could jeopardize.
For more than a month, Israel and the Palestinian militias had largely held to an informal cease-fire. Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin said that his government would continue to adhere to the truce, which was announced at a Feb. 8 summit in Egypt between Abbas and Sharon.
"We remain committed to what we have decided in Sharm el Sheik," Gissin told CNN, referring the Egyptian resort where the talks were held. "We hope that the Palestinian Authority and the newly formed government will take the next steps to make good on their pledges, their commitments to stop all terror activity."
The Palestinian Authority immediately offered to set up a joint investigation with Israel into the bombing, said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
"Whoever is behind this attack has one goal in mind: sabotage the peace process, undermine Palestinian democracy ... and derail the process of reviving hope in the mind of Palestinians and Israelis," Erekat said.
