Palestinian president condemns suicide bombing

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday condemned a suicide bombing by Palestinian terrorists that killed three people in the resort town of Eilat a day earlier.

Abbas told reporters in Cairo after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he did not expect the bombing to disrupt a shaky two-month-old ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.

"My position regarding this operation is that I do not accept it and I reject and condemn it. There was no need at all, and it does not benefit us at all. I do not think that this operation in particular will impact the calm between us and the Israelis in the Gaza Strip," Abbas said.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told parliament on Monday that Israel would protect its citizens while doing everything to maintain the ceasefire.

Monday's bombing was claimed by Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Abbas' Fatah faction, which said in a statement the operation was a response to Israel's "Attempts to defile al-Aqsa mosque" in Jerusalem, a reference to recent archaeological excavations.