A suicide bomber killed two people and wounded 27 others in a blast at the Yuvalim shopping center in the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron last night. The mall was filled with young people enjoying an evening out after the Sabbath.

The explosion took place at about 7:45 P.M. in a seating area near a pizzeria. The settlement is situated between the Palestinian-ruled cities of Qalqilya and Nablus.

The two who died were last night identified as Keren Shatzki, 14, from the Ginot Shomron neighborhood in Karnei Shomron, and Nehemia Amar, 17, a yeshiva student from the same neighborhood.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will today call a meeting of the "extended security cabinet" to discuss the attack on the mall and other weekend terrorist actions. Ministers Benjamin Ben-Eleizer, Shimon Peres, Silvan Shalom, Eli Yishai, Natan Sharansky and Dan Meridor will be present.

A well-placed Israeli government source said after the Karnei Shomron attack that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat wants the violence to escalate "bring about an explosion of crises that would lead to international intervention in the dispute." The security cabinet will discuss ways to improve Israel's deterrent capability while preventing a further upswing in the violence.

Sharon, who returns to work today after recovering from flu, plans to meet PA officials again soon - the same ones he met before his recent trip to the United States. Aides in his office last night indicated that no date for this has been set - the aides said the further contacts would continue efforts to speak with a Palestinian leadership that is an alternative to Arafat. Top Palestinian figures are wary of more meetings with Sharon, fearing that he is exploiting them to involve PA officials in further efforts to humiliate Arafat.

The suicide bomber at Karnei Shomron was last night named as Sadak A'ahad Abbad Alhak, a Qalqilya resident and member of the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the "Brigades of Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa."

The PFLP took responsibility for the attack, and relayed the name of the bomber to Al Jazeera Television. The PFLP statement said the attack was in reprisal for Israel's military activities, including closures and assassinations. The statement also warned the PA, saying the continued confinement of various Palestinian "political prisoners" in its cells will have grave consequences.

Nine people were seriously injured in the attack - one was listed last night in critical condition. All told, 24 injured persons were dispatched to s number of hospitals after the terror attack. Eight had moderate injuries, seven were lightly hurt.

Five of the injured victims were taken last night to Meir Hospital, Kfar Sava. One was seriously injured, having sustained nail-fragment injuries all over her body, including her head; the other four had moderate to light injuries.

A seriously injured 15-year-old teenage girl was taken yesterday to the Schneider Children's Medical Center; she suffered burns.

Steven Bar-On, 45, was taken to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, after being not seriously hurt by bomb fragments. He was at the Karnei Shomron mall to buy prescription medicine, when he heard the explosion. "I felt the blast, and there were flashing lights," he recalled yesterday while being taken to the hospital. "Suddenly I felt some pains in my leg; I checked, and saw that I had been hit by fragments. Then I walked over and tried to help people who were more seriously injured. The rescue teams arrived quickly."

Video cameras at the Karnei Shomron mall documented events before and after the blast at the pizzeria. The suicide striker can be seen on the film, wearing gray trousers and a black jacket, and approaching the pizzeria, which was packed with youngsters. He carried explosives on a belt, which was apparently concealed under his jacket. The camera focuses on another area at the instant of the blast, but then returns to the site of the attack a few seconds after the tragedy. Victims can be seen on the floor, covered in blood and crying for help.

Security officials who viewed the film last night said that the terrorist had his target marked out in advance. They speculated that his PFLP terror group had prior knowledge of the of the attack site, since Palestinian laborers work in the area, and were involved in the construction of the Karnei Shomron mall, which opened officially just a few months ago.

The two young Israelis killed in the attack had gone for a night out with friends at the shopping mall. Amar was the third pupil from the Bnei Hayil yeshiva killed in terror attacks

Speaking about the shopping mall, Udi Lieberman, the head of the Karnei Shomron council, said: "Hundreds of people come here naturally on a night like this. They come each week after the Shabbat ends. There are coffee houses, a pizzeria, and all sorts of stores. People come here to enjoy themselves; and, tragically, a suicide striker came tonight..."

A private company is responsible for security at the shopping mall. Security sources said last night that there will be a need to review security procedures at the mall - a preliminary review of the attack indicates that existing procedures might have been inadequate, the sources added.

Despite the recent escalation of terror and violence, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is continuing with efforts to promote the peace initiative he has worked out with Palestinian legislative council speaker Abu Ala. Russian Middle East envoy Andre Vadovin met with Peres on Friday, and told him that Yasser Arafat "does not oppose" the understandings worked out in the Peres-Abu Ala plan. Vadovin stressed that Abu Ala affirmed that he stands "categorically in support" of the plan.

In response to mounting violence, the IDF expanded activities in Gaza this weekend. IDF officers told Ha'aretz last night that the army's goal in Gaza right now is to create a buffer zone west of Gaza's border fence. Among other actions in Gaza, IDF forces are widening a corridor leading to Netzarim; some houses and agricultural fields have been destroyed to create this space (in "A," PA controlled lands), which is to be filled with IDF posts.