Agence France Presse

Gaza City, January 14

Four Israelis were killed today when a female Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up at the main border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, witnesses and military sources said.

The blast at the Erez border point went off shortly after 9:30 am (0730 GMT) in an area used by Israeli soldiers and security services to process Palestinians wanting to cross into Israel.

An Israeli military source said that all of the fatalities, apart from the bomber, were Israelis. "A suicide bomber, probably female, exploded herself at the Erez terminal," an Israeli source said. "We have four Israelis dead and at least seven injured" who were being treated in hospital. Five of those injured were Israelis and two were Palestinians.

The source said that some but not all of the casualties were members of the security forces. Port authority employees, civilians who work in a nearby industrial zone as well as settlers and foreign nationals also regularly use the crossing.

Palestinian witnesses confirmed that the attack was carried out by a female bomber. It was not immediately known if she belonged to any particular faction. It was the first suicide attack since a bombing at a bus stop near Tel Aviv on December 25.