Associated Press A victim of the Netanya hotel bomb blast, with his face covered in blood, sits in an ambulance arriving at the Kfar Saba hospital yesterday. A suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday in the hotel dining room in this Israeli resort as guests gathered for a Passover Seder, the ritual evening meal ushering in the Jewish holiday. Police said 15 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in one of the deadliest attacks in 18 months of fighting.

NETANYA, Israel - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a hotel dining room in this Israeli coastal resort yesterday as guests gathered for a Passover Seder, the ritual evening meal ushering in the Jewish holiday. Police said 15 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to the Arab television station Al-Jazeera. The claim by Hamas' military wing, Izzedin al-Qassam, could not be verified independently.

The attack threatened to derail the latest U.S. truce mission, which survived two suicide attacks last week.