Suicide bombing kills 15, injures 100 in Israeli hotel

7.30am

NETANYA, Israel - A suicide bomber blew himself up in the lobby of an Israeli coastal hotel on Wednesday evening, killing 15 people and wounding about 100.

Israeli police chief Shlomo Ahronishky said several of the wounded were in critical condition from the blast, which devastated the lobby of the seaside Park Hotel in the resort town of Netanya.

The attack occurred just after the sundown start of the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover and it coincided with an Arab summit in Beirut where Saudi Arabia presented a plan for peace between the Arab world and Israel.

Palestinian militants have staged a series of bombings in Israel since launching an uprising against Israeli occupation some 18 months ago, killing and wounding scores of people.

Victims in the Netanya attack were whisked away on stretchers to ambulances with lights flashing and sirens wailing. Gun-toting policemen and soldiers milled among the stricken crowd inside and outside the hotel.

- REUTERS

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