Israel Radio reported that around 30 people were injured, among them at least 10 seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up shortly before noon.

Witnesses said the bomber arrived at the gas station, and was spotted by Israeli soldiers, who approached him. As the soldiers were trying to overpower him, the bomber detonated the explosives on him, injuring several people, they added.

As a result of the blast, there was a small fire at the gas station, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters, said the witnesses.

The Ariel settlement, with a population of 20,000, was the sceneof another suicide attack in March - the first the city had known -when a bomber blew himself up in the lobby of the Eshel Hashomron hotel, injuring 14 people.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for Sunday's suicide bombing attack.

Mohamed Al Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza said that the attack came to reiterate that the Palestinian resistance is continuing, adding that "these attacks can guarantee to keep thePalestinian question on top."

Al Hindi denied that that there is any link between the attack and the special session of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, which will have a confidence vote for the new cabinet presented by Palestinian leaderYasser Arafat.

"The timing of the attack is linked to the existance of the occupation on our lands. The Palestinians and their leaders are targeted by the government of (Ariel) Sharon," said Al Hindi.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Ranteesi said that this "is the natural reaction of the Palestinian people living under the repression of the occupation."

"These attacks are the legal response to defend the land and thepeople who are living under the occupation which kills and destroyshumans, trees and stones," said Ranteesi.

Ghtassan Al Khatib, minister of work in the resigned Palestiniancabinet, said that the continuation of the violent Palestinian reactions "stems from the continuation of Israeli aggression and collective punishment practised against our people."

He said that the Sharon's government and his army "are completely responsible for the escalation of violence and for blocking the return to the negotiation table."

Sunday's suicide bombing attack was the second major attack against Israelis within a week.

Last Monday, two Palestinian suicide bombers drove an explosives-laden car into an Israeli bus near northern Israel's coastal city of Hadera, killing 14 people.

The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, triggering a large-scale incursion by the Israeli army on Friday into the West Back city of Jenin, considered a bastion of the hardline Palestinian group.

The Israel army announced on Sunday that during the operation, it arrested several dozen wanted Palestinians including a suicide bomber, who was on his way to commit an attack on Israeli territory.

Sunday's attack came just a day after US Mideast envoy William Burns left after presenting the Palestinians and Israelis a US "roadmap" peace plan aimed at ending the two-year crisis between the two sides.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2002)