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Israeli warplanes blast Gaza, Nablus targets
Israeli warplanes have bombarded Palestinian security buildings in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, in swift revenge for a deadly ambush on an Israeli bus and a double suicide attack. Israel to break contact with Arafat
Israeli warplanes have bombarded Palestinian security buildings in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, in swift revenge for a deadly ambush on an Israeli bus and a double suicide attack.
At least one person, a woman with a heart condition, died from shock during the raids, medical officials said. Ten people were killed and some 30 injured when Palestinian radicals ambushed an Israeli bus near a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank, while in the Gaza Strip two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a settlement bloc, injuring four.
In response, Israeli F-16 jets dropped at least nine bombs on Gaza city security buildings close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat`s offices, Palestinian security officials said. They hit naval police offices and the police headquarters which was already flattened in air raids last Thursday, and also bombed Gaza International Airport`s control tower, they said.
The other Gaza city targets were not immediately identified but they were all in the same vicinity.
A woman with a heart condition, Hayat Assad Al-Haytham, has died of shock after the bombing, The head of the emergency room at Gaza`s Al Shifa Hospital, Mouawiya Abu Hassaneyn, told a news agency. At least seven people also had been hurt while fleeing the blasts, but no direct injuries were reported, the doctor added.
The F-16s and an Israeli military reconnaissance drone used to sight targets was continuing to circle the city. Large clouds of smoke were rising from the bombed buildings and a haze has covered the downtown area.
Shortly before the latest strike a senior Palestinian official said all the strikes hit an area near the compound housing Arafat`s offices.
And in the northern West Bank, Israel sent F-16s to bomb Palestinian buildings in Nablus, following the bus attack near the Emmanuel settlement south of the town, Israeli military sources and witnesses said. The fighter jets hit a prison and police station in the suburb of Jneid. But Israeli Army spokesman General Ron Kitrey denied the prison was hit.
“We raided a Palestinian authority scientific laboratory in Nablus where they were developing arms and explosives. We emphasize we did not hit the prison,” Kitrey said.
Kitrey said targets in Gaza compound including installations of force 17, Arafat`s elite personal guard, including the main office, ammunitions depots, magazines and apartments.
Meanwhile, a report from Ramallah said the Palestinian authority had ordered the immediate closure of all Hamas and Islamic jihad offices in the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian authority decided (Wednesday) evening to close all the offices and institutions of Hamas and Islamic jihad from Thursday, said a statement from the authority carried by the official Wafa news agency.
Bureau Report
At least one person, a woman with a heart condition, died from shock during the raids, medical officials said. Ten people were killed and some 30 injured when Palestinian radicals ambushed an Israeli bus near a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank, while in the Gaza Strip two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a settlement bloc, injuring four.
In response, Israeli F-16 jets dropped at least nine bombs on Gaza city security buildings close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat`s offices, Palestinian security officials said. They hit naval police offices and the police headquarters which was already flattened in air raids last Thursday, and also bombed Gaza International Airport`s control tower, they said.
The other Gaza city targets were not immediately identified but they were all in the same vicinity.
A woman with a heart condition, Hayat Assad Al-Haytham, has died of shock after the bombing, The head of the emergency room at Gaza`s Al Shifa Hospital, Mouawiya Abu Hassaneyn, told a news agency. At least seven people also had been hurt while fleeing the blasts, but no direct injuries were reported, the doctor added.
The F-16s and an Israeli military reconnaissance drone used to sight targets was continuing to circle the city. Large clouds of smoke were rising from the bombed buildings and a haze has covered the downtown area.
Shortly before the latest strike a senior Palestinian official said all the strikes hit an area near the compound housing Arafat`s offices.
And in the northern West Bank, Israel sent F-16s to bomb Palestinian buildings in Nablus, following the bus attack near the Emmanuel settlement south of the town, Israeli military sources and witnesses said. The fighter jets hit a prison and police station in the suburb of Jneid. But Israeli Army spokesman General Ron Kitrey denied the prison was hit.
“We raided a Palestinian authority scientific laboratory in Nablus where they were developing arms and explosives. We emphasize we did not hit the prison,” Kitrey said.
Kitrey said targets in Gaza compound including installations of force 17, Arafat`s elite personal guard, including the main office, ammunitions depots, magazines and apartments.
Meanwhile, a report from Ramallah said the Palestinian authority had ordered the immediate closure of all Hamas and Islamic jihad offices in the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian authority decided (Wednesday) evening to close all the offices and institutions of Hamas and Islamic jihad from Thursday, said a statement from the authority carried by the official Wafa news agency.
Bureau Report