High-level Israeli and Palestinian security officials are holding talks on implementing a cease-fire, despite a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed seven passengers on a commuter bus in northern Israel.

 Special U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni was expected to preside at the meeting aimed at halting 18 months of violence.
 
 

The Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. It said the bombing was revenge for Israel's killing of Islamic Jihad members in recent military strikes. 

The bus was headed from Tel Aviv to Nazareth, packed during the morning rush with Arab workers, Israeli soldiers and other travelers. The bomber, from the West Bank town of Jenin, detonated explosives hidden under his jacket shortly after boarding the bus near the Arab town of Um el-Fahm. 

President Bush says he is "frustrated" by the violence in the Middle East. But he says the United States will continue its efforts to cement a cease-fire.

 The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing and said that attacks against civilians in Israel must stop. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the bombing shows Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has not moved away from what Mr. Sharon called a "policy of terror." 

Late Tuesday, the Palestinian cabinet affirmed its commitment to the truce plan worked out last year by U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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