Suicide Bombing Hits Israel for 5th Time in About 48 Hours

By GREG MYRE



ERUSALEM, May 19 - A suicide bomber blew up at the entrance to a shopping mall this afternoon in the northern Israeli town of Afula, killing at least four people and wounding more than a dozen, the Israeli police said.

The attack was the fifth suicide bombing in less than 48 hours, and it dealt yet another blow to efforts aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process.

The explosion came shortly after 5 p.m. at one of the entrances to the Shaarei Amakim mall. The blast took place at the spot where shoppers line up to be checked by a security guard. It was not immediately clear whether the bomber was a man or a woman.

The militant group Hamas, which opposes any negotiations with Israel, said its members carried out the previous four bombings, but no one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack in Afula, 75 miles north of Jerusalem.

``Palestinian terrorists have charted a course of murder and destruction,'' said David Baker, an official in the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. ``It's obvious that the whole idea of making progress on the peace track does not appeal to them.''

The Israeli police and rescue services reported that at least four people were killed, though it was not known whether that toll included the bomber.

Earlier today, a suicide bomber on a bicycle detonated his explosives beside an Israeli Army jeep in the Gaza Strip, killing himself and wounding three soldiers.

In a trio of bombings Saturday night and Sunday morning, nine civilians were killed in attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Hebron.

The first attack on Saturday night came only hours before Mr. Sharon met with the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas in the highest-level talks between the two sides since the latest round of of fighting broke out in September 2000.