Israelis resume Gaza attacks
RAIDS: Helicopters fire missiles into buildings belonging to Yasser Arafat's guards.

BY IBRAHIM BARZAK
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP
After a lull, Israel renewed its retaliatory strikes against Palestinian targets in Gaza with a missile raid on a security compound early today. A bombing attack hours earlier left 20 people wounded.

Two helicopters fired nine missiles into buildings belonging to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's personal guard, known as Force 17, and the military intelligence service in the pre-dawn raid, Palestinian security officials said.

The F-16 bombing attack destroyed a police compound. None of the injuries was life-threatening. There were no immediate reports of injuries in today's helicopter strikes.

Earlier Friday, two Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank.

Angered that the United States has not criticized Israel for the military action, Arafat accused Americans of a pro-Israel bias in an interview Friday with Israeli television.

Despite the violence, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni brokered a meeting between top Israeli and Palestinian security officials in an effort to quell the crisis set off by suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa that killed 25 people last weekend.

Israel has targeted military strikes this week at Palestinian security installations and symbols of Arafat's rule, saying he hasn't done enough to stop terrorist attacks on Israel.

The Israeli army said in a statement that the F-16 strike targeted the "Palestinian security apparatus that supports and aids terrorist operations." Another statement described the facility as a mortar shell factory.

The helicopter attack came hours after five mortar shells had been fired toward Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported in the shellings.

 

Published 12/8/2001