A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in northern Israel on tonight, killing at least three other people and wounding six, police and medical officials said.
The blast, which occurred near a military base close to the town of Hadera, curled the roof of the bus skywards, shattered all its windows and reduced the rest to a mangled skeleton.
A Reuters photographer at the scene saw the charred body of a dead man hanging out of one of the bus windows.
The terrorist sat in the centre of the bus and exploded himself in the middle of the journey, said Mr Avi Zohar, director general of the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The terrorist's body is completely crushed and destroyed. The attack came as Palestinian security officials met US envoy General Anthony Zinni for talks on ending 14 months of violence which began with a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation shortly after peace talks stalled.
Those terrorist attacks of today are the instrument by which the Palestinian Authority undermines the peace mission of General Zinni, Israeli government spokesman Mr Avi Pazner told reporters.
"This is a clear escalation because over the last few days we have seen a concerted attempt by terrorist organisations... to hit inside Israel and to cause as many deaths and injuries as possible," he said.