OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, June 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Fourteen Israelis were killed and more than 50 wounded when a car bomb exploded near a bus during the rush-hour in northern Israel early Wednesday, June 5, Israeli police said.

Three of the total 42 wounded were in critical condition, they said. The early morning attack occurred at a crossroads in Meggido, near the port city of Haifa, in an area not far from the Palestinian town of Jenin in the West Bank, police said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The correspondent of Qatari-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel said that he received a call from an extremist Jewish organization claiming responsibility of the attack.

Shortly after the blast, a senior Israeli official accused Palestinian President Yasser Arafat of encouraging so-called “terrorist organizations” to pursue attacks against Israel.

“This atrocity proves once again that the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat are doing everything to encourage terrorist organizations to continue their attacks,” Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told AFP.

“We will take all necessary measures to protect Israeli residents,” he added, but declined to say whether Israel would launch another large-scale offensive against the Palestinians.

Regional police chief Yaakov Boroski said that the explosion was caused by a car bomb near the bus that plied the route between Tel Aviv and Tiberias and which was full at the time of the attack.