Israel razes teen bomber's home

Amer's mother said he was too young to be asked to attack Israel

Israeli troops have destroyed the homes of a teenage Palestinian suicide bomber and his alleged handlers near Nablus.

Security has been stepped up in Tel Aviv where bomber Amer al-Fahr, 16, struck killing three Israelis.

Overnight, 48 Palestinians and five Israeli employers were questioned in the Tel Aviv area, police said.

But there have been no major military strikes after Israel pledged restraint towards Palestinians during their leader Yasser Arafat's serious illness.

However, Israeli undercover forces killed three members of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades during an overnight raid on Nablus.

The security forces suspect that Palestinians working and living illegally in Israel may have been accomplices in Monday's attack on Tel Aviv's Carmel market.

Israel's internal security minister Gideon Ezra said the bomber - one of the youngest in four years of violence - had never visited the market, so must have had local help.

The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two women and a man died when he detonated 5kg explosives strapped to his body in the busy market. Seven people were seriously wounded.

Immoral recruitment

Troops destroyed Amer al-Fahr's family home in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus in the northern West Bank on Tuesday morning.

The family of 12 had already removed their belongings from the house, knowing that Israel usually destroys bombers' homes as a deterrent against future attacks.

The bomb left about 30 people injured, seven of them seriously

The teenager's now homeless mother, 45-year-old Samira Abdullah, had bitterly criticised those who sent her son to his death.

"It's immoral to send someone so young," she said. "They should have sent an adult who understood the meaning of his deeds."

The homes of two other wanted PFLP militants who Israel said dispatched Amer al-Fahr were also destroyed by Israeli forces in the nearby towns of Kfar Furik and Rujib.

Troops in disguise

Late on Monday, Israeli undercover troops killed three members of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the centre of Nablus.

Palestinian witnesses quoted by Associated Press said soldiers disguised as veiled Muslim women carrying trays of sweets approached the militants sitting in a coffee shop.

Witnesses said the soldiers opened fire without warning, killing two of the men. A third died in the ensuing gun battle. The army said the militants had drawn pistols before they were shot.

Anger hit the streets of Nablus after the triple killing

Thousands of mourners packed the streets of Nablus for the funerals on Tuesday, where they chanted calls for revenge against Israelis.

Meanwhile, Israel has not yet responded to Monday's criticism from European parliamentarians for what they called collective punishment on Palestinians in the occupied territories.

A delegation of MEPs visiting Gaza said curbs on Palestinians' movement, destruction of homes and what they called "humiliation" at Israeli checkpoints had created the conditions that produce Palestinian suicide bombings.

Israeli media reports on Tuesday said that the army had killed more Palestinians in October than in any month since the all-out invasion on the West Bank in April 2002.

Haaretz says the army killed 165 Palestinians, 50 of whom were civilians, including women, children and the elderly. Dozens of homes were also destroyed in military operations in Gaza.

Israel insists its actions are necessary to defend its civilians against Palestinian attacks.