JERUSALEM?A bomb exploded in a Jewish settlement Monday, prompting Israel to halt a planned troop pullout from the West Bank town of Jenin after withdrawing from a smaller Palestinian town early in the day.

Israeli officials stressed, however, that the army still intended leave Jenin and two other towns it entered nearly three weeks ago to root out militants?as long as the Palestinian Authority ensures calm in those areas.

The bomb exploded in a factory cafeteria, injuring three people in the settlement of Shaked, six miles west of Jenin. The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

“Everything in that area will have to be postponed,” said Raanan Gissin, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “We will not exit right now.”

Earlier, about 22 Israeli tanks rumbled out of Qalqilya, pulling back a few hundred yards from Palestinian territory.