A Palestinian suicide bomber killed three people yesterday when he blew himself up in a bakery in the southern resort town of Eilat.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack and named the bomber as Mohammad Siqsiq, 21, a resident of the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia.

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Israeli officials believe that Siqsiq crossed into Israel from Sinai and then made his way to Eilat. However, an Islamic Jihad spokesman claimed that Siqsiq had been living in Jordan and crossed the border into Israel from there. The spokesman also said that the attack had been planned for seven months.

Relatives of the bomber, who lauded him for the attack, denied that he had been in Jordan and said that until Friday, he was in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli security officials who investigated the incident said that the terrorist crossed into Israel several kilometers northwest of Eilat and made his way to a small commercial center in one of the town's older neighborhoods, the Arava quarter. At approximately 9:40 A.M., he saw a police patrol car passing on a parallel road, and according to the police, that made him decide to carry out the attack immediately. He therefore walked into the Lehamim bakery in the Isidore shopping center and exploded his bomb, which he was carrying in a bag.

According to the police, the bomb weighed approximately 15 kilograms.

Security sources believe that Siqsiq's original intention was to reach the center of town or a tourist area, where there would be many more civilians, and blow himself up there.

A senior military source discounted the possibility that the terrorist received assistance inside Israel. "I do not think that he had assistance inside Israel," the source said. "The dust marks on his clothes suggest that he probably walked through the desert from the point at which he crossed the border."

The terrorist entered Eilat from the west, and in the Simchon neighborhood, he hitched a ride with Yossi Waltinsky, an Israeli civilian. Waltinsky thought that the man was suspicious, as he was wearing heavy clothing - probably to protect him from the desert chill during the night - and carried a bag. Nevertheless, Waltinsky dropped him off near a gas station, about a kilometer from the area where he carried out the attack.

According to southern district police chief Uri Bar-Lev, who rushed to Eilat immediately after hearing of the attack, Waltinksy then telephoned the police station in the town and said that he suspected the man was a terrorist. Two patrol cars rushed to the scene, but seven minutes after Waltinsky made the call, Siqsiq carried out the attack.

Explosives experts said yesterday that the bomb Siqsiq detonated contained military grade explosives that came from a Soviet-made 100 millimeter mortar shell. This type of ammunition is available in large quantities in the Gaza Strip and Sinai, and militant groups often make use of it, security sources said.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said yesterday that he expects Egyptian security forces to intensify their efforts to prevent terrorists from entering Israel from Sinai. "Egypt has no reason to want a terrorist to make his way to Eilat. I am sure they will do more in the future to prevent such attacks," he said.

Senior military sources said that the border with Egypt is not well protected, but little has been done to improve security there because of budgetary constraints. More than a year ago, the Israel Defense Forces formulated a plan, code-named "Hourglass," which called for building an electronic fence along the border with Egypt and monitoring it via observation posts. The estimated cost was NIS 3 billion.

However, the government offered only NIS 100 million, which sufficed only for temporary, localized solutions to the problem.