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Israeli
F-16s Bomb Gaza City, Tulkarem
GAZA
CITY, Jan 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli warplanes
bombed Palestinian positions in Gaza City and the West Bank city of
Tulkarem late Friday night, news agencies reported.
The American-made F-16 Warplanes pounded the Palestinian security
compound in Gaza City, known as Ansar camp, in two successive waves,
leaving at least 12 injured, Palestinian hospital sources said.
The
compound, which hosts Palestinian president Yasser Arafat's elite
Force 17 presidential guard, sits next to his Gaza headquarters and
has been blitzed several times since the outbreak of the 16-month
Palestinian uprising or intifada, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
The majority of the wounded were police, hospital sources said.
In
the West Bank, an Israeli F-16 fired a missile, destroying a
building close to the governor's office in Tulkarem, which has also
been used as a headquarters for security services and was hit by
warplanes on January 18.
A
Palestinian security man was killed and some 40 other people wounded
in that attack.
The
Israeli occupation army confirmed the strikes on the West Bank and
Gaza City in a statement, saying the attacks "were in response
to Palestinian terrorist operations."
The
army said that the strikes in Gaza City had hit "a garage for
Force 17 armored vehicles". Force 17 is Arafat's presidential
guard.
The
bombardment on Gaza City came in answer to the firing of three
rockets at the northern Gaza Strip's Erez border crossing into
Israel, it added.
Before
the raids, Israel had warned Palestinian security services to
evacuate their offices in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, telling
them they were a potential target of air raids, Palestinian security
sources said.
The
Palestinian leadership vehemently denounced the raids.
"The
Palestinian leadership pins responsibility on (Israeli Prime
Minister) Ariel Sharon for this serious escalation," it said in
a statement.
The
leadership stressed Israelis military measures, including the
restriction of Arafat to the West Bank city of Ramallah, made it
hard for the Palestinian Authority to act.
The
leadership urged the United States to send peace envoy Anthony Zinni
back to the region and advised it to pressure Israel to end its
military campaign against the Palestinian Authority.
In
recent days, Palestinian resistance groups have announced a return
to martyr operations inside Israel - which they had suspended for a
month - in retaliation for a spate of "targeted"
assassinations by Israel, reported the BBC's online news service.
In
other violence on Friday, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and
rubber-coated bullets at Palestinian stone-throwers in Ramallah when
hundreds took to the streets to protest against Israel's occupation
and its killings of militants.
Palestinian
hospital sources said 11 people were wounded, the BBC said.
Palestinian
News Agency, WAFA, said that there were still F-16 planes hovering
over Gaza and the provinces of Rafah and Khan Younis.
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