Eight die in wave of attacks in Israel

Bombings, shootings and air strikes deepen violence

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Five hours that marked new peak in Middle East's daily diet of violence

Three Israelis were killed and dozens were wounded in a suicide bombing at a crowded railway station in the northern coastal resort of Nahariya yesterday.

It was one of a wave of attacks and reprisal raids that shook the country and raised a question mark over planned peace talks between Israel's Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Israel identified the bomber last night as a 55-year-old Israeli Arab. If the identification is confirmed, it will be the first time one of Israel's one million Arab citizens has killed himself in the Palestinian cause. Others have served as couriers, but never as bombers. He was named as Mohammed Shaker Habashi, a leader of the Islamic Movement in the Galilee village of Abu Snan, who had been on the run for 10 days after police raided his home. Some reports also named him as Mohammed Salah.

Earlier yesterday, in the occupied Jordan Valley, an Israeli driver and a woman teacher were shot dead when Palestinians raked with automatic fire a van ferrying staff to work in a nursery school at a settlement.

The assailants fled towards the West Bank town of Nablus. This was another first. The roads of the northern Jordan Valley, where there are hardly any Arab villages, had been relatively free from attack, and the van was not protected.

Later, a Palestinian blew himself up when the car he was driving stopped at traffic lights east of the Mediterranean resort of Netanya. Three Israelis were wounded in the incident. Police worked for more than two hours to disarm two mortar bombs that were flung out of the car.

The bomber is believed to have crossed into Israel from the West Bank town of Tulkarem. Police suspect the car bomb went off prematurely. Netanya has been a prime intifada target because it is barely 10 miles from the West Bank border and many Palestinian labourers work there, with or without permits.

Israeli Apache helicopters retaliated by striking with rockets at Palestinian security buildings in Ramallah, Jericho and Kabatiya. The offices were empty at the time of the attack. A handful of passers-by were slightly wounded. Israeli security sources hinted that more reprisals might be on the way.

In Gaza, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian who had been attempting to plant a bomb near a border fence. Another Palestinian was wounded and a third escaped.

Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister, called a cabinet meeting last night to review an army plan for creating a buffer zone up to 1.4 miles wide along the old Green Line, which was Israel's pre-1967 border. It was also considering demands by right-wing ministers for Mr Peres to postpone, if not cancel, his meeting with Mr Arafat.

In any case, Mr Sharon had already stipulated that their agenda should be limited to securing a ceasefire. The Palestinians were demanding implementation of the Mitchell report, which called for a freeze on West Bank settlement building, as well as a relaxation of restrictions that have crippled the Palestinian economy. More than 600 Palestinians and 170 Israelis have been killed since last September.

Ra'anan Gissin, the Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman, accused Mr Arafat of duplicity yesterday. "The coalition of terror is in full swing," he said. "Arafat is giving the green light to all the terror organisations. He is doing nothing to stop it. The Palestinian Authority is fully responsible."