A suicide bomber has killed an Israeli woman in the town of Dimona in southern Israel, police say.
A suicide bomber has killed a woman in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, the first such attack in over a year.
They say at least 10 people were injured in the attack.
Israeli investigators were checking whether the attacker came via Egypt after Palestinian militants breached the Gaza-Egypt border last month.
Israel has been on alert for possible militant attacks after thousands of Palestinians poured out of the Gaza Strip when its border was breached.
Police said a second suicide attacker was shot dead before he was able to detonate his explosives belt.
The border between Gaza and Egypt has now been resealed, nearly two weeks after it was blown up by Palestinian militants who control the strip.
Responsibility was claimed by the Army of Palestine group, of the pro-Fatah group the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades.
Monday's explosion happened in a commercial centre a few kilometres from the Dimona base which houses Israel's top-secret nuclear reactor.
The explosion happened in a commercial centre a few kilometres from the Dimona base which houses Israel's top-secret nuclear reactor.
Police officials said there appeared to have been two attackers, although only one managed to detonate his explosives belt.
"We heard a large explosion and people started to run. I saw pieces of flesh flying in the air," a witness told army radio.
"We heard a large explosion and people started to run. I saw pieces of flesh flying in the air," a witness told army radio.
Thousands of Palestinians poured out of the Gaza Strip unchecked when the Egypt-Gaza border was breached by the territory's de facto rulers Hamas on 23 January. The border was resealed on Sunday by Egyptian forces.
Rare attack
Rare attack
Analysts said towns in the Negev desert, where Dimona is located, would be the most vulnerable if Palestinian attackers entered Israel from Egypt through the open border across the Sinai desert.
Analysts said towns in the Negev desert, where Dimona is located, would be the most vulnerable if Palestinian attackers entered Israel from Egypt through the open border across the Sinai desert.
A spokesman for Gaza's de facto rulers, Hamas, said he did not know whether his group was involved in the attack, but it was "justified by the crimes" of Israel.
However, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade emailed news organisations said it had sent attackers from the West Bank town of Ramallah to carry out the "heroic martyrdom bombing in Dimona".
He also rejected suggestions that the bombing would hurt Hamas' chances of reopening the border with Egypt.
A Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said the attack was "a natural reaction to months of killing" of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
Israel was pummelled by series of suicide bombings in the 1990s and 2000s, peaking after the Palestinian intifada or uprising broke out in 2000. However, there were only two such attacks between April 2006 and now, the last being in January 2007 when a bomber blew himself up in a bakery in Eilat, killing three people.
Hamas also rejected suggestions that the bombing would hurt its chances of reopening the border with Egypt.
Israel was pummelled by series of suicide bombings in the 1990s and 2000s, peaking after the Palestinian intifada or uprising broke out in 2000.
However, there were only two such attacks between April 2006 and now, the last being in January 2007 when a bomber blew himself up in a bakery in Eilat, killing three people.
Monday's blast is also the first since renewed efforts to come to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal were launched with US support last November.
Monday's blast is also the first since renewed efforts to come to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal were launched with US support last November.
Israel argues that its blockade of about 4m Palestinians in Gaza and large parts of the occupied West Bank is necessary to prevent such attacks.
Israel argues that its blockade of about 4m Palestinians in Gaza and large parts of the occupied West Bank is necessary to prevent such attacks.
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