The Chinese casualty figures had been "repeatedly" checked by the Chinese embassy in Israel, Zhang said at a regular press conference. Among the seven wounded, three were seriously injured.

China strongly condemned the suicide bombings and continued to oppose the "eye for an eye" response to violent attacks, Zhang said.

China appealed to Israel to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid escalating the violence, she said.

She said the Chinese government was greatly concerned at casualties among Chinese contract workers. Embassy staff rushed to the spot to appreciate the situation more clearly and Pan Zhanlin, Chinese ambassador to Israel had visited the wounded people in hospital.

The embassy was working hard to handle matters relating to those Chinese workers killed and injured during the incident, the spokeswoman said.

She said the embassy had notified people intending to go to Israel to be careful about their personal safety there.

She said Israel was also greatly concerned over the Chinese casualties and said it would spare no effort to treat the wounded and compensate the relatives of the dead.

Two suicide bombings in Tel Aviv on Jan. 5 killed 22 people and wounded more than 100.

It was one of the most serious attacks in Israel in the past two years and also the third time Chinese nationals had been killed in such attacks.

Two Chinese workers were killed on April 12, 2002, and another two on July 17. Altogether six were wounded in attacks last year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2003)