Another four Chinese workers were injured in the bombings and another two were missing after the bombing, according to the Chinese Embassy in Israel.

The victim was believed to be Li Peizhong, 41, a resident of Weifang in Shandong Province who came to work in Israel through the Shandong Changda Construction Company.

The Israeli side is helping with final identification of the victims via DNA tests, according to Fan Jianmin, counsellor with the Chinese Embassy in Israel.

Fan said that the face of victim was severely damaged and barely recognizable.

At the time of printing, four injured workers identified as Zhang Minmin (female), Chen Wen, Ge Cunhong and Chu Kaiwen were still being treated in Sheba Hospital and Ichilov Hospital. Zhang and Chen were in the most critical conditions of the four. Zhang was still unconscious and Chen's spleen was completely destroyed, according to the embassy.

The attacks occurred at the corner of G'dud Ha'ivri and Neve She'anan Streets. They were crowded with foreign workers near the old central bus station. At least 22 people were killed - two of them suspected suicide bombers - and at least 110 people injured in the explosion. Many of them are foreign workers, from Asia, Africa and Europe.

The same area was hit on July 17 by two suicide bombers who killed at least four people, including two Chinese -- Li Bin and Xu Hengyong.

The incident was also the third in less than a year to hit the crowded neighborhood of mostly foreign workers and poor people.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Monday's press release strongly condemned the bombings which targeted the innocent, and expressed deep sorrow for those killed and injured.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said that the government was highly concerned about the safety of Chinese nationals in Israel and continued to oppose the "eye for an eye'' response to violent attacks.

China appealed to Israel to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid escalating the violence, the spokeswoman added.

As its helicopters blasted Gaza early Monday, Israel also banned a Palestinian delegation from a London conference on key reforms in retaliation for the double suicide.

The Chinese Embassy in Israel urged all Chinese people to take care in the war-torn region and to stay in regular contact with the Chinese Embassy in case of emergency.

Zhao Jixian, an official with the Chinese Embassy also disclosed that the government would communicate with the Israeli National Insurance Institute about providing pensions for family members of the Chinese victims.

(China Daily January 7, 2003)