A Palestinian opened fire with a submachine gun at a bus stop near the port of Ashdod Thursday, killing one Israeli and wounding four before being shot to death by bystanders, officials said.
The attack followed a suicide car bombing of an Israeli bus in the northern town of Afula on Wednesday that killed the assailant and seven civilians, including three teenage students.Islamic fundamentalists claimed responsibility for both attacks. The violence came as Israelis observed Holocaust Day in memory of the 6 million Jews slaughtered by Nazi Germans during World War II.
The attacks, which undermined support for Israel-PLO peacemaking, spurred calls for a suspension of negotiations with the PLO on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and West Bank town of Jericho. Much of the anger focused on PLO leader Yas-ser Arafat's failure to condemn the attacks.
Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak, the armed forces chief of staff, told reporters the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip would be closed "at least for several days" to prevent further attacks. About 1.8 million Palestinians live in those areas.
The measure will tighten travel restrictions imposed after the Hebron mosque massacre, when most Palestinians were banned from bringing vehicles into Israel and the number of Arabs allowed into Israel daily was limited to 20,000.
National police spokesman Eric Bar-Chen said Thursday's attacker, who was armed with an Uzi submachine gun, was shot and killed by a civilian and a soldier who were at the bus stop and hitchhiking post used by soldiers. Ashdod is 15 miles south of Tel Aviv and 15 miles north of the Gaza Strip.