Israeli police evacuate wounded people after a blast ripped through a bus near the defence ministry in Tel Aviv. Source: AFP
A BLAST has ripped through a Tel Aviv bus injuring 17 people in what Israel said was a "terrorist" attack, hampering efforts for a Gaza ceasefire.
The attack came as Hamas-controlled Gaza was rocked by new Israeli air strikes and as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon shuttled between Jerusalem and Ramallah trying to secure a halt to the bloodletting.
"A bomb exploded on a bus in central Tel Aviv. This was a terrorist attack," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Ofir Gendelman said on his official Twitter account.
Medics said 17 people were wounded, including one in moderate to serious condition while another three sustained moderate injuries.
Police said the blast took place on a street which runs just behind the Kiriya, Israel's sprawling defence ministry in central Tel Aviv.
Television images showed the bus with its windows blown out and its metal frame contorted from the force of the blast, in images reminiscent of scenes from the second Palestinian intifada (2000-2005).
The front window was completely shattered and glass littered the floor as the wounded were loaded into ambulances by an army of medics.
Just before the explosion, the UN chief had called for an immediate halt to militant rocket attacks on Israel after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
A push for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire is gaining momentum even as airstrikes and rocket attacks continue.
"I reiterate my call for an immediate cessation of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants targeting Israeli populated centres. This is unacceptable," he told a news conference .
"Now is the time for diplomacy and stopping the violence," he said after a week of deadly Israeli air strikes on Gaza which have killed more than 130, as militants fired more than 1500 rockets over the border, killing five Israelis.
Mr Abbas had earlier held talks with Senator Clinton, with a senior official saying he had expressed hope that a truce would be announced overnight, while the US diplomat was still in the region.
"President Abbas told Clinton that Egypt was the key to everything," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat after the 45-minute meeting.
"The secretary of state assured president Abbas that the United States has done everything possible to reach a ceasefire" in the conflict between Israel and Gaza militants, Mr Erakat said.
Senator Clinton was scheduled to visit Cairo, where Egypt is mediating indirect talks between Hamas and Israeli officials before returning to Washington.
Before her departure, Senator Clinton returned to Jerusalem for a second round of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their second meeting since her arrival yesterday.
A truce talk over cross-border violence between Israel and Gaza may now be delayed until tomorrow.
Speaking ahead of the bus blast, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that the Jewish state still hoped for a diplomatic solution.
"The diplomatic ball is still in play. We have not given up on the hope of having a long-term solution achieved through diplomacy, I hope it's still possible," he said.
The Israeli military said that during the night it had targeted more than 100 sites across the Gaza Strip.
The army said that since midnight 16 rockets had hit southern Israel and a further 12 were intercepted midair.
Israel's offensive, launched on November 14 with the targeted killing of a Hamas military chief, has killed at least 136 Palestinians, while five Israelis, including a soldier, have been killed in rocket attacks.
A senior Hamas official said in Cairo that a key sticking point in truce talks was the timing of when Israel would begin easing its six-year blockade of Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu had told Senator Clinton yesterday that he was ready to agree to a "long-term solution" as long as the rocket attacks from Gaza stopped.
Palestinian men carry a wounded person into the al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli strike in Gaza City, on November 20. Picture: AFP
A Palestinian man carries a wounded boy into the al-Shifa hospital after in an Israeli strike in Gaza City, on November 20. Picture: AFP
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi (centre-right) and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya (third from left) stand next to a Palestinian boy, who according to Palestinian medics was wounded in an Israeli air strike, at a hospital in Gaza City on November 20. Picture: AFP
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to broker a ceasefire with Gaza.
Israelis react as they run for cover while a siren wails during a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern city of Ashdod on November 20. Picture: AFP
Relatives grieve Rushdi Tamimi who died of injuries sustained during clashes on Saturday with Israeli security, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on November 20. Picture: AP
Palestinians sit on the debris left after an overnight Israeli strike on the house of Hamas militant Ez Eldeen Hamdan in Bureij refugee camp, Gaza Strip, on November 20. Picture: AP
Palestinian demonstrators run through smoke rising from a burning barricade during clashes with Israeli troops after a protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, in the West Bank town of Jenin, on November 20. Picture: AP
Palestinians children take cover in a UN-operated school in Gaza City on November 20. Picture: AP
A Palestinian woman takes cover in a UN-operated school in Gaza City on November 20. Picture: AP
Israelis react near a damaged car after a rocket launched from Gaza Strip hit the southern city of Ashdod on November 20. Picture: AFP
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