Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah Party was ousted in January parliamentary elections, condemned the Tel Aviv terrorist attack. But Hamas called the bombing justified.

The militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the blast, which also killed the bomber.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman in Gaza, Khaled Al-Batsh, said that regardless of who was behind the attack, Palestinians had the right to resist an Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the Palestinian people "are in a state of self-defense."

Two Israeli Apache helicopters fired missiles into Gaza late Monday, destroying a building that Israelis said was being used as a workshop for missile construction but causing no casualties. The attack, which occurred around midnight (5 p.m. ET), was against a building thought to be used by the Popular Resistance Committees to make Qassam rockets.
Israel Defense Forces said the attack was not in retaliation for Monday's suicide bombing.

CNN