Israeli security sources have confirmed that an explosion has occurred in the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.

The sources said that the explosion was in one of the bakeries in the city and resulted in the killing of three Israelis and the injuring of many others.

Breaking news in the Israeli media said that the explosion was in a bakery in the city centre.

Israeli radio said that sappers are investigating the explosion, which seems to have been carried out by a suicide bomber. The Israeli police and ambulances rushed to the scene to evacuate the casualties.

Three separate Palestinian movements have claimed the attack: Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who are the main military wing of Fatah, and the previously unknown ‘Army of Believers’.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah have all since issued statements attesting the right of the Palestinians to resist occupation.

The statements called on all Palestinians to act united, forget their differences and face the Israel occupation.

Islamic Jihad, one of the groups who claimed responsibility for the attack, called on the factions to do their utmost to escalate the resistance instead of fighting each other. Their statement read, “This operation, which was carried out by the heroes of the resistance in Um Ar-Rashrash [the Palestinians’ Arabic name for Eilat] in the lands of 1948, is coming as an initiative of a different kind to wake up the consciences and to re-aim the rifles against the enemy “.

The Hamas movement said that the operation was “a natural response to the Israeli aggressions”. Hamas spokesman, Muhammad Aziz, said that resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinians.

Abu Qusay, the spokesman of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, said that his brigades salute the operation and affirmed that it was a natural reaction for the Israeli aggression.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, has also claimed that the perpetrator of the attack entered Eilat from Jordan. It was also reported that the attacker was named as Muhammad Siksik, 21, from Shaja’iyyah in northern Gaza.

Source: www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=19063