Suicide blast targets Israelis in Gaza

Israeli newspapers said Sharon rival Benjamin Netanyahu was aiming to bring down the prime minister by blocking even a greatly watered-down plan to pull out of the territory.

Two occupants of a jeep tried to ram a bus carrying some 40 Israelis near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt but the vehicle blew up prematurely, killing the attackers and wounding one Israeli soldier, officials said.

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"A white jeep with two people aboard tried to ram the bus transporting some 40 employees to the (Rafah) terminal and blew up. The jeep was totally wrecked," Anat Moore, a spokeswoman for the Israeli ports and airports administration, told AFP.

"The employees of the administration are unharmed," she added. "An officer in the escorting military vehicle was slightly hurt."

Israeli military sources also confirmed one soldier wounded and the two attackers killed.

Moore said that before the blast the front seat passenger in the jeep had leaned out of the window and fired at the bus but caused no casualties.

Traffic had resumed on Wednesday through the Rafah terminal, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

The terminal, which is manned by Israelis on the Palestinian side, had been virtually closed since Israli forces launched a massive raid into Rafah on May 18, killing 43 Palestinians and demolishing dozens of homes.

The raid was aimed at eliminating militants and destroying tunnels allegedly used to smuggle weapons from Egypt.

Meanwhile, Sharon faced political deadlock as hardliners in his cabinet continued to oppose any form of withdrawal from the Gaza Strip ahead of a crucial cabinet meeting on Sunday.

Sharon was meeting with close allies, including Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, to find a way out of the crisis facing him.

His original plan to shut down all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and pull out of most of the territory occupied in 1967 was shot down in a referendum of members of his Likud party on May 2.