The day suicide bombers launched first attack on Israel in a year

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But the carnage could have been much worse as only one of the two bombers involved managed to detonate his bomb.

The second Palestinian was knocked over by the blast when his comrade blew himself up in the town of Dimona.

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Police shot dead an accomplice wounded in the blast before he could detonate his own belt

An Israeli doctor, thinking the stunned man was one of the wounded, ran to his side and tore open his jacket, only to discover he was wearing a suicide belt. As the doctor backed away a policeman stepped up and shot the Palestinian at point-blank range, killing him.

The blast occurred only a couple of miles from Israel's most sensitive military site, the nuclear reactor in the desert just outside Dimona. The

Palestinians came from Gaza and entered Israel via the Sinai Desert through the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

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Killer: Palestinian fanatic Lawal Abawaini

Killer Mussa Arafat: Arafat's father said: 'Thank God he died a martyr'

The border was breached two weeks ago when Hamas blew up the barrier and smashed through it with bulldozers.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Al-Aqsa Brigades of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In Gaza, residents handed out sweets and flowers and fired into the air to celebrate.

Al-Aqsa Brigades spokesman Abu Fouad boasted that "the attack has been planned for a month, but was only made possible after gunmen bombed the fence".

He identified the bombers as Mussa Arafat, 23, and Lawai Abwaini, 20. Arafat's father said: "Thank God he died a martyr."

In the alley outside Abwaini's home in Gaza City, the bomber's father held up a picture of his son and praised him as a hero.

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Blast: An injured man is taken to hospital after a suicide bomber killed three in Israel yesterday

But his mother Ibtissam, remained inside, sitting on a mattress on the floor and sobbing uncontrollably. She said she had learned of her son's death from neighbours.

She cowered when her husband and other men in the family reprimanded her for grieving.

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Warning: A soldier warns people not to go near the explosion site in Dimona

Dr Baruch Mandeltzwieg, a local doctor who tried to treat the injured in Dimona, said the second bomber was bleeding from the head when he ran up to try to help him.

"His head was moving," said Dr Mandeltzwieg.

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Search: A bomb desposer machine looks for any more explosives left by the bomber

"We started to treat him and then we saw an explosive belt ... I managed to see a small gas canister and small plastic bags attached to his body."

Tony Blair, special peace envoy for the Middle East, who is due in the area today for talks, condemned the bombing as a "despicable act of terror".