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Hamas has claimed responsibility for a bombing in Tel Aviv late Sunday that killed the attacker and wounded a passerby soon after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel to push for a U.S.-backed proposal for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages.
Hamas said the backpack bombing was part of a joint operation with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group and vowed to carry out further such attacks, The Times of Israel reported.
Police in Tel Aviv were investigating the attack alongside Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency.
“It can now be confirmed that this was a terror attack involving a powerful explosive,” Israeli police said in a statement.
The suspected bomber was reportedly killed in the attack while a passerby was “moderately injured” and taken to a hospital, police said.
SEE ALSO: Blinken: Emerging talks ‘maybe the last’ chance to free hostages from Gaza
“The Israel Police continues to operate with heightened security measures in crowded areas, in collaboration with special units and volunteers from the emergency response teams, to ensure the safety and security of the public,” Israeli officials said in a statement.
Suicide bombings have been rare since the early 2000s when hundreds of Israelis died in such attacks. The government erected a security barrier along the West Bank that has been credited with helping reduce the number.
The bombing happened an hour after Mr. Blinken arrived in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel and Hamas are working through intermediaries to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The fighting began following the Palestinian terrorists’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel, where they killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Israeli officials on Monday said the three-hour meeting was positive and “was held in a good atmosphere.”
“The prime minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs, which he strongly insists on,” a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu said afterward.
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