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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An attacker police suspected was a Palestinian woman detonated explosives in Jerusalem's main shopping street on Sunday, killing herself and an elderly Israeli and wounding dozens, Israeli police said. The blast on Jaffa Road was the third attack on an Israeli city center in less than a week and raised the specter of fresh Israeli retaliation. It was also likely to increase Israeli and U.S. pressure on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) to do more to rein in militants behind the mounting wave of bloodshed. Israeli police said the bomber and an 81-year-old Israeli man were killed, but the circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear. ``We are not calling her a suicide bomber, just a bomber. She is not an innocent bystander. There is a host of possibilities regarding how the bomb went off,'' police spokesman Gil Kleiman said. He said they suspected she was a Palestinian. It was the first time a female bomber has carried out a fatal bomb attack in Israel during the 16-month old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. ``We've had intelligence warnings on woman suicide attackers, albeit not recently,'' Deputy Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra told Reuters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. CYCLE OF RETRIBUTION The Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) condemned the attack. In a statement, it called on the United States, which last week postponed a truce mission by its envoy Anthony Zinni, to send him back to the region without delay. Two days ago a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and wounded 25 people in Tel Aviv. Last Tuesday, a Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli women on Jaffa Road, near the scene of Sunday's bombing. Police shot him dead. Voicing criticism of Arafat after Friday's blast, President Bush (news - web sites) told reporters: ``I am disappointed in Yasser Arafat. He must make a full effort to rout out terror in the Middle East.'' Sunday's explosion occurred near the Sbarro pizzeria where a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 16 in August. Photos Reuters Photo Asked about Israeli retaliation, Dore Gold, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), said: ``The military will bring its recommendations for the approval of the political echelon.'' Israeli jets fired missiles on Friday at Palestinian security targets in the West Bank and Gaza, wounding two Palestinians in retaliation for Friday's suicide bombing attack. And an Israeli missile strike on Thursday followed the shooting attack that killed the two Israeli women.