LIVERPOOL FC star Yossi Benayoun was caught up in a terrorist bombing while visiting his parents in his home town in Israel.

The Reds midfielder was in the southern town of Dimona yesterday when Palestinian suicide bombers struck, an Israeli FA spokesman confirmed today.

The 27-year-old was near enough to the scene to hear the explosions and gunfire which killed one Israeli woman and the two bombers.

One of the attackers detonated an explosives belt at a shopping centre. His accomplice was shot dead by police before he could detonate his own bomb.

Benayoun made telephone calls to check his family were unharmed in the blast.

His agent, who said the Reds star’s parents lived about five minutes’ walk from the site, said he was flooded with calls immediately after the bombing.

Gil Lebanony, spokesman for the Israeli Football Association and the national team, said Benyaoun and his family were unscathed.

He said: “Yossi was in the town when it happened and his father was close by. Everything is OK.

“I saw both him and his father at a practice match and he was just the regular Yossi. They didn’t have a scratch.

“Terrorism is not a nice thing, but Yossi does not want to speak about this, only the football.”

Israel captain Benayoun is preparing for a friendly against Romania tomorrow.

Agent Ronen Katsav said: “It is a small place and he heard the explosion and the gunshots.

“He was inundated by phone calls from friends asking him if he was all right.

“He is fine and will take part in the international game.”

The Reds midfielder, who moved to Anfield last summer, was born and raised in Dimona and started his career with the region's main team, Hapoel Beersheva.

Yesterday’s bombing was the first since renewed efforts to come to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal were launched with US support last November.