Jerusalem-----September 9......At least three Israelis were killed and dozens were wounded when a suicide bomber exploded in the Nahariya train station this morning.

The barbaric attack took place in the northern coastal, resort city' station, located not far from the Lebanese border. Israel Television Channel Two report 59 people wounded in the suicide bombing, according to Army Radio.

Magen David Adom emergency medical services regional operations head Doron Kutler noted most of the wounded suffered from shock. Four of the wounded are in moderate condition and two are listed as lightly wounded, suffering from burns and shrapnel wounds.

The wounded were taken to the Nahariya Government Hospital.

Police, IDF and Israeli security forces along with theMDA and the fire department have converged on the train station, packed this early Sunday morning with soldiers and civilians travelling south to the center of the nation.

The terrorist reportedly waited in a snack bar next to the station's tracks. When a train arriving from Tel Aviv pulled into the station, the bomber detonated a powerful bomb packed with nails, screws and other types of shrapnel.

Smoke filled the air and bodies were seen scattered on the ground outside the centrally-located train station.

"He simply ran and exploded," Yaakov Borovsky, Israel's northern police chief told reporters, describing the seconds after a police officer challenged the bomber at Nahariya's train station and asked him for identification.

The area has been sealed off to traffic and police bomb squads are searching the area for additional explosive devices. Though the station itself was not damaged in the blast, train traffic heading south out of Nahariya has been brought to a halt.

An additional explosion was reported shortly after the initial blast.

Police are requesting people stay away from the scene of the terror attack.

Hamas claimed responsibility for this bombing of innocent men, women and children at a civilian train station.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accused Yasser Arafat of instigating the attacks on Israelis at a time when preparations were under way for talks between the Palestinian leader and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

"This shows that while Arafat is talking about conducting negotiations and returning to the peace process...he's providing the support and the instigation for continuous terrorist activity," the spokesman, Raanan Gissin, told Reuters.

Junction Beit Lid

"What should they talk about? The man doesn't want to talk -- he wants to shoot," Gissin said about Arafat, adding that Israel would draw "the proper conclusions."

Photo: Reuters

Earlier in the morning, Palestinian terrorists shot dead two Israelis in an attack on a van carrying teachers to a school in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.