Suicide bomber kills four Israelis

EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip -- A Palestinian blew herself up Wednesday at the Israel-Gaza border, killing three Israeli soldiers and a private security guard and signaling a new tactic by Hamas militants, who had never before dispatched a female suicide bomber.

Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said the use of a woman was unique for the Islamic group, but holy war "is an obligation of all Muslims, men and women."

Israel said it would temporarily close the crossing to Palestinians, preventing thousands of workers from reaching an Israeli-Palestinian industrial zone that is one of the last vestiges of cooperation between the two peoples after more than three years of violence.

The army said four of the seven people wounded in the attack were Palestinians.

The bombing came as efforts to restart peace negotiations remained stalled, with Israel's leaders threatening to impose a new boundary between Israel and the Palestinians if no progress is made soon.

Violence over the past 39 months has killed 2,618 people on the Palestinian side and 909 on the Israeli side.

At the Erez crossing Wednesday morning, a woman identified as Reem Raiyshi, 22, told soldiers she would set off a metal detector because she had an implant to repair a broken leg. She was taken for a security search to a special room, where she set off the bomb, said Maj. Sharon Feingold, a military spokeswoman.

"I heard soldiers screaming, the blast was very strong," said a Palestinian who identified herself only as Amena.

After the explosion, a makeshift checkpoint structure of corrugated metal had a large hole in the roof, and destroyed desks and computers were scattered nearby.

Two of the dead were immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Police Staff Sgt. Vladimir Trostinsky, 22, moved to Israel with his mother and brother seven years ago, Channel Two TV reported. Cpl. Andrei Kegeles, 19, was drafted four months ago.

The other dead soldier was Staff Sgt. Tzur Or, 20. The name of the security guard was not immediately released.

The bombing was claimed by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Before tha attack, Raiyshi made a video standing before two Hamas flags.

"This is an indication that resistance will continue," Yassin said.

Using a woman as a bomber aimed at piercing Israeli security, which mainly focuses on men as possible attackers. Other militant groups have used women to carry out bombings, but Hamas had not done so.

"It is possible that the fact that today's attack was carried out by a woman could mean Hamas is having trouble using men to carry out attacks on Israeli targets," said Boaz Ganor, an Israeli counterterrorism expert.

In a video made before the bombing, Raiyshi wears the traditional hijab covering for women, holds an assault rifle and stands before two green Hamas flags.

"I always wanted to be the first woman to carry out a martyr attack, where parts of my body can fly all over. That is the only wish I can ask God for," she said with a smile.

Raiyshi had a daughter, Doha, 18 months, and a son, Obedia, 3. Her brother-in-law Yusef Awad said Raiyshi and her husband got in a fight with the rest of the family two months ago and had not been seen since.

Awad expressed disbelief that she had left her children, saying: "We were not expecting that from her. We would not have thought it possible."

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia declined to condemn the attack, saying continued Israeli attacks and restrictions on the Palestinians are leading to "escalation on both sides."

There have been several previous attacks at the Erez crossing.

In response to Wednesday's attack, Israeli officials said they would close the crossing to Palestinians for several days. About 6,000 Palestinians pass through a network of fences and security checks at the crossing daily to reach jobs at an industrial zone filled with Israeli, Palestinian and jointly-owned factories.

"We are not going to close it (permanently) but no one can blame us for making more stringent checks," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Brig. Gen. Gadi Shamni, the Israeli military commander in Gaza, indicated Israel would hit back. "I imagine that we will know how to respond at the time, place and method of our choosing," he told Israel TV.

The industrial zone straddling the Israel-Gaza border provides crucial jobs to residents of the impoverished coastal plain, where 60 percent of working-age people are unemployed.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack on Erez appeared aimed at pushing Israel to close the border, thereby depriving Palestinians of work and making life in Gaza more miserable -- and raising the popularity of militant groups.