Dozens of Casualties in Tel Aviv Suicide Bombing; Olmert Weighs Response

A Palestinian suicide bomber killed nine people at the Felafel Rosh Ha'ir restaurant in Tel Aviv, which was hit by an attacker on January 19. The bombing occurred near Tel Aviv's old central bus station in the middle of the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover. Police said more than 50 were wounded.

Both Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, claimed responsibility.

On Sunday, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah said the group was making "nonstop efforts" to infiltrate suicide bombers from the West Bank into Israel. "The nonstop crackdown against our resistance might limit this effort, but it's not going to stop it," he said in a statement posted on the group's Web site.

A spokesman for Hamas, which took control of the Palestinian government on March 29 after sweeping general elections in January, called the bombing an act of "self-defense". Abbas, a moderate, condemned it.

A spokesman for acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel held the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority responsible. "This Palestinian Authority, which has clearly defined itself as a terrorist entity, has tried to instigate terrorist support more than the previous one did, and we will act accordingly," spokesman Raanan Gissin said.

Olmert said on Monday that Israel was weighing its response to the bombing. "We will hold consultations and decide how to respond," Olmert told the parliamentary faction of his Kadima Party. "We will know how to respond in the way and manner required, and we will continue to act with all means at our disposal to thwart futher such incidents," he said.

UPDATE 4/17 @ 9:37am: An Arab television station aired a video tape showing a militant from Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad and said he carried out the attack in Tel Aviv on Monday.

"There are more martyrdom-seekers (suicide bombers), God willing," said the young man who identified himself as a "son of the Quds Brigades" the military wing of Islamic Jihad. "I give myself ... for the sake of God."

UPDATE 4/17 @ 9:43am: Suicide bomber identified as Sami Salim Khamad, an Islamic Jihad member. Just 16 years old, he is believed to be the youngest ever suicide bomber. With the death toll now at eight, Magen David Adom emergency services say that at least 60 people were wounded, including two who are in criticial condition and nine others who sustained serious wounds.