At least 7 wounded in Jerusalem suicide attack

Police block access to the bombing site Tuesday in central Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A suicide bomber set off an explosion Tuesday on a busy street in central Jerusalem, killing himself and wounding at least seven others, police said.

Police said the bomber was a 17-year-old from Bethlehem in the West Bank.

A source in Gaza said the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the explosion, but authorities have not confirmed the claim.

The blast occurred at the Yemenite falafel stand on Hanevi'im Street, which runs parallel to Jaffa Road, a major artery.

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Police noticed a man acting suspiciously and approached him. He apparently went to the stand to get away and then blew himself up, an Israeli government spokesman said.

Authorities said they believe the man may have been on his way to nearby Zion Square, a highly trafficked area in central Jerusalem.

It was the first attack in Jerusalem since back-to-back suicide bombings killed 26 Israelis last month. A series of suicide bombings and shootings have claimed the lives of more than 220 Israelis since January.

Two settlers killed

Earlier Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed two Israeli settlers near the West Bank village of Jammain, close to Nablus, Israeli police and medical services said.

The two settlers -- employed as truck drivers from the nearby Jewish settlement of Tapuah -- apparently entered the Palestinian village for business purposes when masked Palestinians gunned them down at a cement factory, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified the victims as Shlomo Odesser, 60, and brother Mordechai Odesser, 52.

The gunmen escaped, according to police. Afterward, Israeli police, army and medical relief services entered the village.

The United States condemned the violence Tuesday.

"We call on the Palestinians to do all they can to end these attacks," said Greg Sullivan, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Near East Affairs, "and we will underscore this need with the Palestinian delegation that is coming next week."

Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to meet next week with top Palestinian officials to discuss reform issues.