First female suicide bomber kills four

EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip -- A Palestinian mother of two blew herself up Wednesday at the main crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip, killing three Israeli soldiers and a private guard and wounding seven other people.\nIt was believed to be the first time the Islamic militant group Hamas has sent a female suicide bomber, possibly signaling a change in tactics aimed at piercing Israeli security, which mainly focuses on male suspects.\nAn Israeli soldier was charged for the April shooting of a British activist who was protesting Israeli operations in Gaza. The 22-year-old activist, Tom Hurndall, died overnight in a London hospital after nine months in a vegetative state, and an Israeli military official said the charges against the soldier could be elevated to manslaughter.\nAfter Wednesday's attack, Israel ordered the closure for several days of the Erez Crossing. Thousands of Palestinian laborers pass each day through a network of fences and security checks at the crossing to go to jobs at an industrial area.\nThe dead were all Israeli, including three soldiers and a private guard, military sources said. The army said four of the wounded were Palestinians.\nThe bomber, identified as Gaza resident Reem Raiyshi, 22, told soldiers at the crossing point that she would set off a metal detector because she had an implant from surgery to repair a broken leg. She was then ushered to a special room for a security search, said Maj. Sharon Feingold, a military spokeswoman.\nA video made before the bombing shows Raiyshi wearing a traditional hijab head covering, holding an assault rifle and standing before two green Hamas flags as she declares her lifelong dream of becoming a suicide bomber.\n"I always wanted to be the first woman to carry out a martyr attack, where parts of my body can fly all over. That is the only wish I can ask God for," she said with a smile.\nRaiyshi's brother-in-law, Yusef Awad, said she had an 18-month-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. Raiyshi and her husband got in a fight with the rest of the family two months ago and had not been seen since, Awad said.\nHamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said the use of a woman bomber was unique, but added that holy war "is an obligation of all Muslims, men and women."\nHamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, issued a joint claim of responsibility.\nIslamic Jihad, the other main Islamic fundamentalist group leading attacks against Israelis, and the secular Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have used women for suicide attacks in the past. But Hamas, the largest group, has until now stayed away from the tactic.\nA Palestinian woman who identified herself only as Amena said she was waiting to get her permit renewed at the Erez crossing when four other Palestinian women entered an office ahead of her and the bomb went off.\n"I heard soldiers screaming. The blast was very strong and I saw one of the women, the last one who went into the room, was bleeding from her legs," she said.\nPalestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia declined to condemn the attack, saying that continued Israeli attacks and restrictions on the Palestinians are leading "to more escalation on both sides"