A Palestinian in a booby-trapped car was killed in the Gaza Strip Thursday evening while attempting to blow up an Israeli tank that was sent to the scene after at least one Palestinian began shooting at a group of soldiers.
The Palestinian shooting attack took place north of Kfar Darom settlement. The troops returned fire and called a tank to the scene. A booby-trapped car then pulled up to the tank and exploded about 20 meters away from it, killing the driver.
Earlier, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired two missiles at a car in Gaza City on Thursday, killing senior Hamas operative, Palestinian police sources and witnesses said. Two of the missiles struck the car and a third landed nearby in the street, witnesses said.
Israel Radio reported that the strike killed a senior official in Hamas. The man killed in the strike was later identified as Iyad El-Bek, 27. Palestinian police at the scene said the strike was an "assassination."
"A response is coming. The crime will not pass unpunished," Hamas official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi said.
Also in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian man was killed early Thursday morning by Israeli gunfire, Palestinian sources reported. He was shot by Israeli troops at the Tufah checkpoint, west of Khan Yunis.
Palestinian hospital officials said that the man apparently died of injuries caused by an Israeli tank shell. Palestinian medics said the unidentified man, in his thirties, was wearing a traditional Arab dress that marked him as a civilian and added that they suspected he was mentally ill.
Palestinian residents who live in the area said they heard the sound of two tank shells exploding just before dawn.
Also on Thursday, a 23-year-old Palestinian woman died of wounds sustained last month when she was shot by Israeli soldiers as she harvested crops with her daughter, Palestinian medics said.
Meanwhile, the State Department said US Secretary of State Colin Powell has no plans to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his tour of the Middle East beginning this weekend.
Spokesman Richard Boucher responded with a simple "No" when asked whether a meeting between the two men was in the works. Boucher reiterated support, however, for newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas(Abu Mazen.) "We want to see actions to support Abu Mazen and to provide more security ... we look forward to working with him," Boucher said.
"The parties need to focus on immediate and practical steps in order to move forward," he added.
Powell arrives in Israeli on Saturday night, and will meet with his Israeli peer, Silvan Shalom. The next day he is scheduled to see Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, President Moshe Katsav and the prime minister, Ariel Sharon. Then he goes to Ramallah for meetings with Abu Mazen and other Palestinian leaders, and returns in the evening for a possible new round of meetings with Sharon and the foreign minister. (Albawaba.com)
