Israeli forces have killed yet another Palestinian, this time in Nablus, following Saturday's round of Apache helicopter assaults against PA buildings in the West Bank cities of Tulkarem and Jenin.
Palestine TV reported that Hammam Abdel Haq, 20, was killed during clashes with occupation troops in Nablus. Four others were also injured.
Clashes were also reported in different West Bank cities and in the Gaza Strip, said the TV report.
In Tulkarem, the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that 25 Palestinians were injured as Israeli Apache helicopters destroyed PA buildings.
Al Jazeera said that 17 of the injured were Palestinian policemen.
Israeli Apache helicopters also raided the headquarters of the Palestinian Presidential Guards Unit, Force 17, and the PA Intelligence Department in Jenin.
In Gaza, WAFA reported that Israeli tanks shelled a neighborhood in Khan Yonis town, injuring several Palestinians, including a child.
Earlier in the day, Israeli forces advanced into the neighborhood of Silet Al Harthia in Jenin, killing one Palestinian policeman and injuring two others.
Palestinian policeman Fawaz Damj, 35, was killed in an exchange of fire with the Israeli troops, reported the official WAFA news agency.
The agency added that a member of Force 17 was injured by the occupation troops near Betounia in Ramallah. He received a bullet in his shoulder, said WAFA.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops shot and killed Tayseer Al Ar'eer, 30, while he worked in his field near the Karni commercial crossing, said Reuters.
Hospital sources quoted witnesses as saying there were no clashes in the area at the time. The Israeli Army was checking the report, said the agency.
Saturday's attacks came only hours after Israeli F-16 warplanes bombed Palestinian towns in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, killing 13 people.
Twelve Palestinians were killed in Nablus, one was killed in Tulkarem, and more than 65 others were wounded.
It is the first time ever that Israel has used its warplanes in the conflict with the Palestinians.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza said that two posts belonging to the Palestinian headquarters and Force 17 presidential guard unit were demolished in the area.
No fatalities were reported in the strip, but the F-16 attack on Force 17 headquarters in Nablus left 12 dead, and dozens injured.
The Israelis also attacked Ramallah, killing one Palestinian.
Israeli troops used heavy artillery and tank fire in their attacks against the towns.
The assaults came hours after a suicide bomber killed six people at an Israeli shopping mall, and the killing of a Jewish settler and wounding two others to the west of Ramallah.
Meanwhile, the Israeli forces barred top Palestinian officials from entering Gaza for a meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said the station.
EXPLOSION IN JERUSALEM, NO INJURIES
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that an explosion had taken place in a café in western Jerusalem.
The TV report said that there were no injuries, but the building was partially damaged.
PALESTINIANS DESTROY TWO ISRAELI TANKS
Reports said that Palestinian fighters destroyed two Israeli tanks in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera said that the two tanks were hit with mortar bombs.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
PALESTINIAN, ARAB REACTION TO ESCALATING VIOLENCE
Palestinian leaders issued a three-point reaction in the wake of Israeli bombing and escalating violence.
In addition to the customary call on the Palestinian people to show steadfastness and patience in the face of the aggression, the leadership called on the international community to secure protection for the Palestinian civilians, an appeal that US diplomats at the UN Security Council managed to block on Thursday.
Palestinian Minister of Information Yasser Abd Rabbo told Abu Dhabi satellite channel that the US was responsible for such Israeli attacks because "Israel would have not launched them unless they informed Washington beforehand."
Meanwhile, on the streets, tens of thousands of Palestinians chanted anti-Israeli slogans.
A funeral has been arranged on Saturday for the victims of the attack on Nablus, said Al Jazeera, and a general strike will be staged that is expected throughout the Palestinian lands.
At the Arab level, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said that the conflict would stop only when "the Israeli provocations comes to a halt."
Moussa was quoted as saying that "a political rather than a military response" was the best reaction to the Israeli attacks.
A similar response came from Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher, said the reports.
TWO PALESTINIAN GROUPS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR NETANYA ATTACK
Two Palestinian movements, Hamas and Hizbollah, have separately claimed responsibility for Friday morning's fatal suicide bombing at a Netanya shopping mall, according to Israel TV Channel Two, quoted by the Jerusalem Post. Hizbollah announced that one of its members had carried out the attack.
However, Al Jazeera and Al Manar satellite channels reported that Hamas was behind the attack, citing a statement by the group.
The statement, according to Al Manar, identified the bomber as Mahmoud Ahmad Mermesh, 20, a resident of Tulkarem in the West Bank.
The bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the Hasharon mall in Netanya around 11:30 am, killing six people and wounding 100. Many of the injured are in serious condition.
Witnesses said that the bomber, wearing a heavy coat over the explosive device that was strapped to his waist, tried to enter the mall. However, security guards prevented him from entering the mall, and he then blew himself up at the entrance.
The wounded were taken to the Laniado Hospital in Netanya and to the Hillel Yaffeh Medical Center in neighboring Hadera.
Netanya, which is near Tel Aviv, has been targeted in recent months by Islamic groups who have vowed to carry out bombings in Israel in solidarity with Palestinians waging a nearly eight-month-old uprising for independence.
Hamas arranged an "in absentia funeral" for Marmesh in his hometown, where hundreds of residents marched to his family's home, said Al Jazeera.
In another development, Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli security forces had arrested a Palestinian on charges of "assisting" Marmash.
Police claim that the man "drove the terrorist from Tulkarem to Netanya."
The man was quoted as saying that he did not know that the "man in the car with him was a terrorist," claimed the paper.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CONDEMNS BOMBING
The Palestinian Authority has condemned the Netanya bombing, and called on the Israeli government to show restraint, reported Reuters.
"The Palestinian National Authority condemns operations aimed at civilians and innocent people, be it Palestinians or Israelis," Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, an adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said in a statement.
"Stopping this deterioration (of the situation) requires wisdom and does not need an angry response and more shellings and killings," he added.
Friday also witnessed clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli troops, said reports.
MORE ISRAELI MISSILES BATTER GAZA
Also on Friday, Palestinian police sources said that two missiles were fired at Gaza City, Israel Radio reported.
Palestinian police said the two missiles were fired at a post on Gaza's coastal road, near the settlement of Netzarim. One landed in the sea and the other landed in a field, Brigadier-General Saeb Al Ajez said.
"It is another provocative flexing of muscle by the Israeli occupation forces," Ajez told Reuters.
PALESTINIANS SLAM US FOR DELAYING ACTION ON APPEAL
Reuters reported that a senior Palestinian negotiator on Friday accused the United States of hampering international efforts in the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Negotiator Hassan Asfour, who is also a Palestinian cabinet minister, said the delay could encourage what he called further Israeli aggression.
The Security Council on Thursday put off acting on a Palestinian appeal for United Nations protection in the territories, saying it could harm diplomatic efforts both to end Middle East violence and revive peace talks.
"At these moments the Security Council and the United States acted as tools to encourage Israeli aggression against the Palestinian civilians, who are in serious need of protection," Asfour told Reuters.
"But our people will not allow Israel to win. Defeat means the end for Palestinians and we will never be defeated."
Israel opposes any UN intervention and flatly rejects sending UN monitors, who could not be deployed without its approval.
US Ambassador James Cunningham, whose country is presiding over the Security Council this month, announced the statement.
"Our focus now remains on the very high-level contacts that are ongoing, trying to find a way to move forward, and we did not think that a Security Council meeting would be helpful to that process," Cunningham said.
Asfour said the Palestinians would go on pursuing their bid for international protection in the UN General Assembly.
"The statement by Cunningham is a silly justification by the US envoy to hold up action on a decision to afford our people the protection they need," Asfour said.
ARAB UN REPRESENTATIVES TO DISCUSS SECURITY COUNCIL REFUSAL
Representatives of the Arab Nations at the United Nations are to meet Friday to discuss the Security Council decision not to hold a meeting to discuss Palestinian demands for UN intervention to help resolve the ongoing violence, Israel Radio reported.
This is the third attempt on the part of the Palestinians and their supporters to secure international protection of the civilians in the occupied lands.
Marwan Jirani, head of the Palestinian delegation to the UN, accused the United States of exploiting its position as the current head of the Security Council to further its own aims, said the report.
In informal meetings Thursday, Security Council members decided that, for now, such a meeting would not be held.
Haaretz said that the current head of the Security Council, US Ambassador to the UN James Cunningham, had expressed opposition to holding the meeting.
A senior American source was quoted as saying that "the US is carrying out intensive contacts with all sides involved, therefore we argue that to return the issue at this time to the Security Council will not assist the process."
PALESTINIANS DESCRIBE ISRAELI SETTLEMENT DEAL AS DECEIT
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has said Israel will stop any further seizures of land around the settlements and adopt a stricter policy on new building within their existing boundaries.
But senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dismissed the offer, telling the BBC the Israeli move was just a "game of deceit."
Another official, Cabinet Secretary Ahmad Abdul Rahman, told Al Jazeera that Israel was trying to win international consent for its settlement activities.
ISRAELI ARMY DISAGREES WITH ATTACKS ON PALESTINIANS
An Arab Israeli politician told Albawaba.com on Friday that he has information that the leadership of the Israeli army has protested against the continuing attacks against the Palestinians.
Riziq Al Atrash, deputy secretary general of the Arab Movement for Change, said that the top echelon of the Israeli forces believed that such attacks would "explode the region."
Al Jazeera also confirmed the account in a report by its West Bank correspondent.
ICRC OFFICIAL CONDEMNS SETTLEMENTS
An official with the International Committee of the Red Cross has said that Jewish settlements on land Israel occupied in the 1967 conflict constitute a war crime under humanitarian law, said the agency.
"The policy of settlement as such in humanitarian law is a war crime," Rene Kosirnik of the International Committee of the Red Cross told a news conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Israel accused the ICRC of siding with the Palestinians on settlements, which the two sides agreed in interim peace deals to resolve in peace negotiations for a final treaty.
The settlements, which top the agenda of the Palestinian revolt, have drawn fire from former US senator George Mitchell's international inquiry which recommended last week that Israel freeze all settlement building.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo has made a written appeal to the US Congress, a traditional bastion of support for Israel, asking it to back the Mitchell committee's findings.
In fresh violence late on Thursday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Israeli tanks and troops on the Gaza-Egypt border following a roadside bomb explosion that witnesses said appeared to have damaged an Israeli tank but caused no casualties.
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen also exchanged fire in the West Bank in what has become an almost nightly ritual. Two Palestinian security men were wounded in an exchange of fire near the West Bank town of Ramallah, hospital officials said.
The Israeli army says its troops came under Palestinian fire near the West Bank towns of Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarm, but there were no casualties. An Israeli car was also sprayed with bullets on a West Bank road, but the driver escaped unscathed, it said.
TURKISH PM INVITES SHARON, ARAFAT FOR SECRET TALKS
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has revealed that he invited Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to Turkey to hold secret talks, Israel Radio reported Friday, cited by Haaretz on its Internet edition.
Ecevit said that conditions needed for the summit were lacking as Sharon and Arafat did not trust each other.
He added that the conflict would not stop as long as Israel demanded an end to violence before reconvening peace negotiations.
Arafat has also denied that Qatar is arranging for talks between him and Sharon in Doha - Albawaba.com
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