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Israel fires missiles after Palestinian attacks
Israel fired missiles into two Palestinian police posts in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing an officer and wounding 17 men after Palestinians launched mortar bombs at a Jewish settlement
Israel fired missiles into two Palestinian police posts in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing an officer and wounding 17 men after Palestinians launched mortar bombs at a Jewish settlement
A direct hit left a smoking, gaping hole in the concrete wall of the headquarters of Palestinian naval police in Sudania in the Gaza Strip, and a police post was also later hit at a refugee camp 15 miles away. The army, which usually launches retaliatory strikes at night when such buildings are empty, said the two surface-to-surface missile strikes were a response to a wave of mortar bombs fired at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
At least two mortar bombs were fired at a settlement in Gaza on Tuesday. Another mortar bomb was later discovered to have fallen near Nativ Haasara village in Israel. No one was hurt.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed there would be no let-up in efforts to stamp out Palestinian attacks, while a top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for international intervention to protect his people.
Tayeb Abdel-Rahim told reporters while visiting the wounded that Israel's action was destroying all goodwill between the two sides.
"We urge the international community to immediately afford protection to our people," he said.
A grim-faced Major-General Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, Palestinian Public Security chief in Gaza, surveying the damage, said there was a "state of war" in progress.
Tuesday's actions in Gaza, in the seventh month of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, widened the gulf between Sharon and Arafat and poured cold water on US hopes of persuading the sides to discuss security, if not peace. "This (Israeli) government doesn't want peace," Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Bureau Report
A direct hit left a smoking, gaping hole in the concrete wall of the headquarters of Palestinian naval police in Sudania in the Gaza Strip, and a police post was also later hit at a refugee camp 15 miles away. The army, which usually launches retaliatory strikes at night when such buildings are empty, said the two surface-to-surface missile strikes were a response to a wave of mortar bombs fired at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
At least two mortar bombs were fired at a settlement in Gaza on Tuesday. Another mortar bomb was later discovered to have fallen near Nativ Haasara village in Israel. No one was hurt.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed there would be no let-up in efforts to stamp out Palestinian attacks, while a top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for international intervention to protect his people.
Tayeb Abdel-Rahim told reporters while visiting the wounded that Israel's action was destroying all goodwill between the two sides.
"We urge the international community to immediately afford protection to our people," he said.
A grim-faced Major-General Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, Palestinian Public Security chief in Gaza, surveying the damage, said there was a "state of war" in progress.
Tuesday's actions in Gaza, in the seventh month of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, widened the gulf between Sharon and Arafat and poured cold water on US hopes of persuading the sides to discuss security, if not peace. "This (Israeli) government doesn't want peace," Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Bureau Report