The northern part of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank towns of Jericho and Jenin fell under severe Israeli attack on Wednesday night, when US-made Apache helicopters were used to fire missiles at Palestinian security posts, reported Al Jazeera TV.
At least 15 people where injured when the police command in north Gaza was rocketed by the Israeli forces.
There were no reports of injuries in Jericho and Jenin up to midnight.
Palestinian police told Reuters that helicopters fired at least four missiles at two police targets, one of them a Palestinian Preventive Security headquarters, in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, where some 80,000 Palestinians live.
A Reuters correspondent said he saw one missile flying towards northern Gaza and Palestinian witnesses said they saw two other missiles.
The Israeli army said in a statement it had attacked the security post after several shooting incidents and other attacks against Israelis were planned and carried out from the area.
"The army spokesman emphasizes that the army will continue to fight Palestinian terror and will do everything in its power to protect Israeli citizens and soldiers," the statement was quoted by the agency as saying.
In the northern West Bank town of Jenin, an Israeli helicopter fired at least seven missiles at the city's main police headquarters, Palestinian witnesses said.
They said the attacks caused a blackout in the city of about 30,000 people. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
In the Gaza Strip, the security headquarters was left with blasted walls, shattered windows and burned and broken furniture after the missile strike.
Some 5,000 refugees flooded the camp's streets, chanting "Long live death" and "Revenge, revenge, revenge." They encircled the headquarters in the heart of the refugee camp.
‘OWNER OF THE HOUSE HAS GONE MAD’
Al Jazeera's correspondent in the West Bank said that he had called an Israeli official while investigating the reason behind Wednesday’s attacks.
“The owner of the house has gone mad,” the unnamed official said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Sharon.
BOMB DAMAGES TEL AVIV-HAIFA RAILROAD
In an unprecedented incident, a bomb, believed to have be planted by Palestinians, exploded on the railroad tracks connecting Binyamina and Zichron Yacov, mid-way between Tel Aviv and the northern coastal city of Haifa, reported Israel Radio.
No one was injured, but the last train car was damaged, said the radio, adding that all the railway transportation from Tel Aviv to the northern Israel was stopped.
Reports have said that more Israelis have resorted to rail transportation after a series of bus bombs carried out by Palestinians.
PALESTINIAN KILLED IN CLASHES WITH ISRAELI TROOPS IN GAZA
One Palestinian was killed and three others were injured during clashes Wednesday with Israeli troops near the Martyrs junction (known to Israelis as Netzarim) in the Gaza Strip, reported Al Jazeera satellite TV channel.
Fifteen-year-old Mohammed Salim was shot dead as he passed an Israeli army watchtower near the heavily guarded Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza Strip, hospital officials told Reuters.
Palestinian hospital workers at the scene said he had been carrying his schoolbag and had been shot without provocation.
The Israeli military said it could not immediately give details.
Earlier, Israeli tanks shelled areas in the Gaza Strip, injuring a mother and her daughter and destroying PA buildings.
The TV report said that Israeli tanks shelled PA-controlled areas near Sofa entrance in Deir Al Balah town, injuring residents.
Israeli troops also destroyed a Palestinian police station in the area, according to the report.
The Israeli attack came only one day after three Palestinians were killed and more than 250 others were injured during clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as they marked the 53rd anniversary of the Nakba.
MORE ISRAELI INCURSIONS
Israel sent tanks and bulldozers rumbling into at least two areas under Palestinian control in the Gaza Strip, said reports.
Al Jazeera said that orchards were flattened and buildings demolished in the latest incursion.
The Israeli incursions followed signs that Washington is stepping up diplomatic efforts to stem nearly eight months of violence since the Palestinian uprising erupted against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
BOMB EXPLODES IN EAST JERUSALEM, NO INJURIES
A bomb exploded on Wednesday in east Jerusalem outside the walls of the Old City, reported Israeli Army Radio, adding that there were no injuries.
Initial police reports said the bomb was in a bag, said the radio, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
ARAFAT DENIES QATAR ARRANGING FOR MEETING WITH SHARON, ARRIVES IN TUNIS
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said at a press conference in Cairo that there were no Qatari efforts underway to arrange a meeting between him and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Doha.
The leader was speaking to reporters after a meeting with the new chief of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.
Arafat later arrived in Tunis for talks with President Zein El Abedine bin Ali.
AL AQSA BRIGADES CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR SETTLER'S KILLING
Meanwhile, Al Aqsa Brigades on Wednesday claimed responsibility for killing a female Jewish settler overnight, said a TV report.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper identified the settler as Idit Mizrahi.
The paper said that she was killed as she rode in a car driven by her father Moshe on the Allon Highway.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held the PA "responsible for the murder of an innocent civilian," said the Post.
Mizrahi, 22, was hit in the back and neck and died shortly after.
Her father, 51, was shot in the leg and taken to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
Her brother, Amit, 20, was lightly wounded by glass shards, the paper added.
Israeli soldiers and police sealed off the area and began searching for the perpetrators - two different weapons were used in the attack - and Israeli officials said "the terrorists are believed to have fled in a waiting car to the nearby village of Deir Dibwan." The army imposed a curfew on the village, said the paper.
HAMAS TO RESPOND 'VERY SOON' FOR ISRAELI ASSASSINATION OF ACTIVIST
The Islamic Resistance Hamas movement has vowed to respond "very soon" to the assassination of one its activists early on Tuesday.
"Our response will be quick and decisive for the assassination of Abdel Hakim Manaemeh," said Abdelaziz Rantissia, a Hamas leader.
Manaemeh, a bodyguard of the movement's spiritual leader Seikh Ahmed Yassin, was killed by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip.
Rantissi urged Palestinians to reject negotiations and wage war against Israel just days after the Palestinian Authority released him from jail in a move that enraged the Jewish state, said Reuters.
"We were forced to leave Jaffa, Haifa and Tel Aviv (after Israel's birth in 1948), and recovering from the impact of that can only be achieved when war returns and forces the invaders out," Rantissi told hundreds of supporters at a rally in Gaza.
The crowd chanted: "Negotiation is treason."
EU REJECTS IMPOSING SANCTIONS ON ISRAEL
The agency also reported that the European Union had reiterated calls for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, but had rejected suggestions that it impose economic sanctions on Israel over policies such as its repeated incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
