HorhayAtAMD
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How long can you ask a country not to retaliate after it has been attacked?
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GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP - Hamas is claiming responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, just hours after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived to press militant leaders for a ceasefire.
Rescue workers said as many as six Israelis and a Palestinian were wounded in the attack near a Jewish settlement and an army outpost at the Kissufim border crossing. Israel closed it last week after a deadly assault hit another crossing.
Hamas claimed responsibility in an electronic message sent to the Associated Press, which identified the bomber as a 21-year-old man who lived near a Palestinian refugee camp.
The attack came shortly after Abbas arrived in Gaza to negotiate with leaders from Hamas and other militant groups, to try to persuade them to lay down their weapons.
Abbas, who was sworn in as president of the Palestinian Authority on Saturday, has publicly condemned the armed uprising against Israel but has so far refused to use force against groups such as Hamas.
Israel has threatened major military action if Abbas fails to rein in the militants.
The Palestinian leader has called on Israel to do its part by halting military operations in Gaza and the West Bank a guarantee Jerusalem has so far been unwilling to give.
The Palestinian militants' attack on the Karni crossing last Thursday, which killed six Israeli civilians, prompted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to suspend talks with Abbas.
Sharon also threatened to retaliate with a major raid into Gaza to stop rocket attacks aimed at Israeli targets, but so far hasn't done so.
The European Union is urging Sharon to stop military operations so that Abbas has a chance to bring Palestinian militants under control.
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