Hamas and Islamic Jihad say more suicide bombings to come after Tel Aviv explosion

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Hamas has promised to carry out more suicide attacks inside Israel after claiming a bombing in the city of Tel Aviv.

A man carrying explosives in a backpack was killed and a passer-by was wounded in the attack launched on Sunday in the city's south-east, Israeli police said. Israeli government representative David Mencer said the man's backpack detonated "before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area".

The incident – the first of its kind in years – shook Israelis.

The attack was claimed on Monday by the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who said in a joint statement they intended to keep carrying out suicide bombings "as long as the occupation's massacres, displacement of civilians and the policy of assassinations continues".

Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency called the blast a "terror attack involving the explosion of a powerful device".

It came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv in his ninth trip to the region in as many months, saying time was running out for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and to win the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Mr Blinken said on talks in Cairo this week, alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Mr Herzog said Israel was under threat by "terrorism from all four corners of the earth" in reference to Sunday's attack, adding his country was "fighting back as a resilient and strong nation”.

Mr Blinken also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, and confirmed that Israel accepts the bridging proposal.

The senior American official, who was making his ninth trip to the region since October 7, said it was now up to Hamas to accept the bridging proposal put forward by the US last week.

“The next important step is for Hamas to say yes, and then in the coming days, for all of the expert negotiators to get together to work on clear understandings on implementing the agreement,” Mr Blinken added.

Protesters gathered outside Mr Blinken's hotel on Monday evening, holding placards begging for US assistance to bring a ceasefire into being and negotiate a return of hostages.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 40,100 people in Gaza since it was sparked by an October 7 Hamas attack on Southern Israel which killed 1,200 people and led to 250 being taken hostage. Israeli authorities said about 110 are still in Gaza, but a third of these may be dead.

Mr Blinken will head from Tel Aviv to Cairo on Tuesday for the renewed talks, but Hamas said progress hailed by the US and Israel in Doha last week was unfounded and that their demands had been ignored. Hamas refused to attend the negotiations, saying Israel must stop bombing Gaza for the duration of any talks.

Sources told The National the process was "shrouded in fog" and unlikely to reach a satisfying conclusion.

Mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar continue to work on a three-phase process which would involve Hamas freeing the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian detainees and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Despite UN Security Council approval of the plan, both sides have proposed amendments, which the other refuses to accept.