Israeli forces exacted swift revenge for the attack on Tel Aviv this morning in which five people died by invading Ramallah and attacking Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters.
Soldiers opened fire from a dozen tank-mounted heavy machineguns and declared a curfew in the West Bank city.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Mr Saeb Erekat said Mr Arafat had telephoned to tell him the headquarters was under fire. He said Mr Arafat was unhurt but two bodyguards had been injured.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment.
The incursion follows an attack in which five people were killed and over 50 were injured this morning when a bomb blew up a bus in central Tel Aviv.
The explosion happened at 10 a.m. (local time) in the central Allenby Street area, a busy thoroughfare full of shops and cafes.
Israeli officials warned after the attack that further militant action could be expected because of instabilitty in the Gulf caused by the US threats on Iraq.
"As a result of the rumblings of war in the Gulf, and in Iraq, there is a higher motivation on the part of the terrorist groups which are directed from outside, like Islamic Jihad and Hamas, to launch such attacks," said spokesman for Prime Minsiter Ariel Sharon, Mr Raanan Gissin, after today's second suicide bombing inside Israel in the past 24 hours.
His comments follow Israeli government spokesman Mr Avi Pazner's warning of "a major drive by all Palestinian terrorist organisations".
One of the leaders of the militant Palestinian group Hamas also warned of further attacks. "The martyr operations will continue against the Zionists, we are defending our people. The resistance will escalate," said Mr Abdel Aziz Rantissi.
Mr Mohammad al-Hindi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, which claimed yesterday's attack, said the latest blast "proves that our people will not submit, however great are the murders, destruction and collective punishment" carried out by Israel.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have both claimed responsibility for today's bombing.
The Palestinian leadership condemned the attack and asked all Palestinian groups to denounce it.
Today's bombing comes after an attack yesterday in which a policeman was killed and four people were hurt when a suicide bomber struck in northern Israel. It was the first attack by Palestinian militants inside Israel in six weeks.
AFP