RISHON LETZION, Israel (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up Wednesday night in Rishon Letzion, south of Tel Aviv, killing himself and at least one other person, police and rescue workers said. It was the second suicide attack in the city in two weeks. Area police commander Yehuda Bachar said one person was dead at the scene, and it was not clear if he was the bomber. Israel TV reported three people were killed, apparently including the bomber. Rescue services spokesman Yeruham Mandola said 19 people were wounded, two of them seriously. Police closed off the area and ambulances raced to the scene. The bomb went off at 9:09 p.m. on Rothschild Street on a pedestrian mall in the middle of the city, 10 miles south of Tel Aviv. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. "There was a loud boom and I just saw body parts. I saw a guy all black and people with no arms and legs," Orin Mahmon said. On May 7, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a pool hall in the same city, killing 15 Israelis and himself. David Baker, an official in the Israeli prime minister's office, said the latest bombing, "was another cowardly act of terror committed by Palestinian terrorists who have once again resorted to their murderous deeds. Israel will not buckle under in the face of terror, and we will use whatever measures are needed to root it out." The most recent bomb attack occurred Sunday in the coastal city of Netanya. It killed three people, the Palestinian bomber and wounded dozens. On Monday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a northern Israeli junction, killing only himself. A suicide attack on March 27 that killed 28 people set off Israel's large-scale military operation into the West Bank. During the operation, Israel took control of main towns and refugee camps and battled Palestinian gunmen and bombers. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is under pressure to rein in militants and put an end to suicide attacks against Israelis. Arafat condemned the May 7 attack in Rishon Letzion and called on his security forces to halt attacks against Israeli civilians. Since Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in September 2000, there have been nearly 60 suicide bombings.

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