Israeli police say at least eight people have been killed and dozens wounded by a Palestinian suicide bomber in downtown Tel Aviv Monday. The blast occurred at a fast food stand near the city's old central bus station - which was also the target of a bombing in January.
After the blast, television stations broadcast a video of a militant from the West Bank city of Jenin who said he carried out the bombing. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces were sealing off the Jenin area. A spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which now controls the Palestinian government, defended the bombing as a legitimate response to Israeli aggression.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack and called on the international community to help end what he called a grave deterioration in the region. The U.S. government called the attack \"a despicable act for which there is no excuse.\"