AMMAN Ñ Jordan has halted a shipment of mortars and rockets believe destined for the Hizbullah for use on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

Jordanian sources said authorities stopped a truck filled with the armaments. The truck was heading through the Hashemite kingdom north toward the Syrian border.

The officials said they found 25 mortars on the truck. The sources said Iran and Iraq have increased weapons shipments to Hizbullah and the Palestinians.

On Tuesday, the Israeli Haaretz daily said Hizbullah has an arsenal of 7,000 Katyushas deployed in Lebanon. The daily said that over the last few days Iran sent several tons of weapons to Lebanon aboard a Russian-built Antonov-124 military transport.

In Israel, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a hitch-hiking station in the Israeli town of Binyamina, south of Haifa. The bomber, said to have carried a bomb that weighed 20 kilograms, and two Israelis were killed. Three Israelis were also seriously injured in the blast.

The bomber was identified as a 20-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad group who lived in the West Bank village of Burkin. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the bombing and convened his security chiefs.

Hours after the bombing, Israeli forces destroyed unmanned PA positions around the West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarm. Israeli officials said the military response was largely ineffective.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher condemned the bombing and called on Israel to exercise restraint.

On Tuesday, Israeli police found and dismantled a large bomb in Tel Aviv. Nobody was injured.

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