2 dead, 13 wounded in bombing near Jerusalem
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claims responsibility
 |  Israeli emergency service workers at the Kalandia checkpoint Wednesday near Jerusalem. |
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 Border police were on alert for suspected bombers.
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An explosion at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem killed two Palestinians Wednesday and wounded another seven, medical officials said.
Six Israeli border police also were wounded, three of them seriously, said the medical officials.
Initially, authorities believed that the blast was set off by a suicide bomber, but on closer inspection, they said, the explosives were found to be in a bag thrown beneath a car and set off by remote control.
At the time of the blast, Israeli authorities were already on high alert and there was a long line of vehicles waiting to pass through the Kalandia checkpoint, which lies between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Luay Hadal, who witnessed the blast, told CNN, "Soldiers were checking our identification documents as if they knew something was going on. They went close to that car and an explosion happened. There was smoke and fire."
Hadal said, "The car was parked on the side. There was a bag that was thrown under it. From inside the car there was only smoke and fire."
Israeli authorities said they had a report that an attack was planned and had increased security.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin claimed responsibility for the attack. The leader of the brigades in the West Bank said the intention had been to bomb a target in Jerusalem, not the checkpoint. He said the bomber decided to detonate his explosives by remote control as Israeli security forces closed in.
The group has previously attacked military and civilian targets in Israel, and in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel and the United States consider it a terrorist group.
Israeli operations continue
Israeli troops demolished several abandoned buildings in the Rafah refugee camp Wednesday night that Israeli military sources said had been used as firing positions by Palestinian militants.
Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian militants during the operation, but there were no reports of casualties early Thursday, Israeli military sources said.
A similar operation Tuesday night in the Khan Yunis refugee camp ended after Israeli forces destroyed an abandoned house and 12 roofless structures.
Palestinian security sources said one person was killed and 10 were wounded by a rocket fired from an Israeli helicopter gunship during that attack.
Israeli military sources said the buildings "were being used for terror activity against Israeli targets," including rocket and small arms fire, as well as for cover by militants laying explosives in the area.
And Palestinian militants fired a crude Qassam rocket at an Israeli community north of Gaza from inside the Palestinian territory, the Israeli military said. There were no injuries reported.
Rocket fire in the area had ceased in recent days after Israeli forces in northern Gaza withdrew from Palestinian towns after a five-week operation to stop the rocket fire proved largely ineffective.
