Israel bars Palestinians leaders from attending Blair conference

Cabinet decides on retaliation after suicide bombings kill at least 23

Israel's Cabinet decided today to prevent senior Palestinian officials from attending talks in London on reforming the Palestinian Authority.

The Cabinet also decided to shut down three Palestinian universities. Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said An Najah University in Nablus — the largest in the West Bank and a Hamas stronghold — was likely to be one of those to be closed.

The Cabinet met overnight after two Palestinian suicide bombs seconds apart in Tel Aviv killed at least 23 people and injured 100.

In addition, the Cabinet decided to carry out more "pinpoint" operations — meaning hunting down and killing militant leaders — and to prevent the Palestinian Central Council from meeting Ramallah on Thursday, Mr Gissin said.

Stricter travel restrictions will be placed on senior Palestinian officials whose cars will be inspected when crossing from one area of the West Bank to another. "They violated the trust so we have the right to take such defensive measures to make sure that such horrible terrorist activities don't take place," Mr Gissin said.

Witnesses to the bombings said they saw victims thrown into the road from a crowded café. Police said some were so badly mutilated that it would be difficult to identify them, and that the perpetrators were blown to pieces. The bombs were packed with nails and ball bearings to maximise the injuries.

The Tanzim, the militia of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility, and said the bombers were young men from Nablus. It said the bombing was in revenge for the Israeli destruction of Palestinian houses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was the first suicide bombing inside Israel since 11 passengers were killed on a bus in Jerusalem in November.

Most of the casualties were foreign workers, who live and congregate around an abandoned bus station. Hospital staff said many of the wounded did not speak Hebrew. Police assured potential witnesses that no action would be taken against them, whether or not they had valid visas. Tel Aviv hosts some 80,000 foreign workers, many without work permits. Social workers were going door-to-door last night appealing to them to come forward for treatment or to help to identify the victims. But many preferred to stay in hiding.

The bombings were followed by an Israeli missile attack by helicopters on a metal workshop in Gaza City late yesterday. There were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli right renewed its call for the government to expel Mr Arafat. The right-wing Israeli government has consistently accused the Palestinian Authority of inciting or failing to stop suicide bombers, but it has denied doing so, and a senior Palestinian official denounced the attack. "The Palestinian Authority reiterates its position of condemning the killing of civilians, whether Israelis or Palestinians," said Saeb Erekat, a minister and senior aide to Mr Arafat.

President George Bush condemned the bombings "in the strongest possible terms", the White House said.