Blast rocks Israeli cafe

The blast was the second suicide bombing in four days

A Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and injured 15 people at a cafe near the Israeli coastal town of Haifa on Sunday.

And in continuing violence, a seven-year-old girl was killed in crossfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The explosion at a busy coffee bar on the outskirts of Haifa happened three days after a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem restaurant on Thursday that killed 15 people.

We will exact a price for every attack

Raanan Gissin
Israeli spokesman

Speaking after the latest bombing, Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon, told the BBC that they would be taking additional measures to stop such attacks.

The Israeli Government responded to the bombing in Jerusalem with air strikes on Palestinian targets and by seizing the unofficial Palestinian headquarters in Jerusalem, Orient House.

Youngsters 'targeted'

With sirens wailing, ambulances rushed to the scene of Sunday's blast at the Wall Street Cafe in Kiryat Motzkin, a Haifa suburb.

Witnesses said a man got out of a taxi, walked to the restaurant terrace and detonated the explosives which he was carrying in a bag.

The militant Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, said it carried out the bombing and warned that more will follow.

The group named the suicide bomber as 28-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud Nasr.

The BBC's Paul Wood in Jerusalem says the attack, like Thursday's, appeared targeted at Jewish youngsters.

He says if there had been Israeli loss of life, the pressure on Israeli Prime Ariel Sharon to take the military option against the Palestinians might have proved irresistible.

Talks

Despite the latest violence, Mr Sharon is reported to have given his Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, the go-ahead to hold more talks with the Palestinians on a ceasefire.

Victims were taken to nearby hospitals

But an Israeli political source said there would not be negotiations about political solutions while the violence continued.

Palestinian officials have already described the move as meaningless unless the Israelis leave the Palestinian offices they seized in reprisal for Thursday's bombing.

"There's nothing new in Peres having talks with us...What we want is for Sharon to revoke his latest orders," Palestinian minister Saeb Erekat told Reuters.

In an attempt to stop violence from escalating out of control, a US envoy was meeting both sides on Sunday.

Arrests

Renewed diplomatic efforts came as the Islamic militant group Hamas - which said it carried out Thursday's attack - announced that Palestinian security forces had arrested four of its members.

Muhammad Mahmoud Nasr was named as the bomber

They include the man Israel says sent the suicide bomber on his deadly mission to the Jerusalem pizza restaurant where the bombing took place.

One of Israel's key demands has been that the Palestinian leadership detain militants that Israel blames for attacks on its citizens.

But Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin said Sunday's bombing showed Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority were not taking the proper action to arrest those responsible.

"Another day, another suicide bombing, " Mr Gissin said in an interview with the BBC.

"We will exact a price for every attack," he warned, adding that Israeli was going to "change the rules of the game" and take additional measures.

Retaliation

Troops stormed the Palestinians' main political foothold in the city, Orient House, as part of retaliation for last Thursday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem in which 15 Israelis were killed.

Israeli police have sealed off the area around Orient House

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on Sunday demanded an end to what a UN statement describes as the Israeli occupation of the building and called for an immediate ceasefire.

But Israel has declared that Orient House will never be handed back.

The country's Security Minister, Uzi Landau, said soldiers occupying it would stay for good, and that Israel was doing no more than asserting its sovereignty.

Palestinians have called for a "day of rage" on Monday to protest at the Israelis' actions.

Despite international pressure, Israel remains defiant.

"Orient House will not open again - ever," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper published on Sunday.