By Roni Singer, Jonathan Lis and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
Two Israelis were killed and 12 people were wounded in two separate suicide attacks Tuesday morning, one in the Israeli town of Rosh Ha'ayin and a second at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
These are the first major attacks since militant Palestinian organizations declared a temporary truce on June 29. However, there have been several other nationalistic attacks on Israelis since the truce, or hudna, was signed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack.
In the first attack at around 9 A.M., in Rosh Ha'ayin, close to the Green Line, a suicide bomber activated an explosive device held in his backpack near the entrance to the NewPharm pharmacy, which is part of a shopping center. He was able to enter the pharmacy with the bomb despite the presence of a security guard.
Police said the blast was small, but it led to a fire that burned down several stores.
Police found two corpses in the shopping center, located in the Neve Afek neighborhood, that of a victim and the suicide bomber. The approximately 10 people who were wounded, including four who suffered serious injuries, were taken to Sharon and Beilinson hospitals in Petah Tikva, which is west of Rosh Ha'ayin.
This is the first terror attack to take place in Rosh Ha'ayin.
A short time before the Rosh Ha'ayin blast, police had gone on high alert in the Sharon region due to reports of a terrorist having infiltrated the area. After the attacks, police declared a high alert throughout the country.
In the second attack, in Ariel, a suicide bomber set off the explosive device strapped to his body when he saw three young Israelis at a bus stop on the road heading from the West Bank settlement toward Tel Aviv, said Ariel mayor Ron Nahman. One Israeli and the bomber were killed, and two people were seriously wounded.
Palestinian militant organizations have recently been threatening that they will no longer hold to the cease-fire.
"The terror attack in Rosh Ha'ayin emphasizes the need for the PA to once and for all take immediate steps to dismantle the terror infrastructure," David Baker, an official at the Prime Minister's Office, said Tuesday.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad spokesmen said they didn't know who was responsible for the attacks and that their groups remained committed to the cease-fire.
Ismail Hanieh, a spokesman for Hamas, laid the blame for the attacks at Israel's feet.
"This situation was born as a result of Israel's refusal to commit to the Palestinian hudna," he said.
