Palestinians' casino cash cow gets shelled

JERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) -- A desert casino that raked in millions of dollars for Palestinians before hostilities with Israelis erupted was shelled overnight from the direction of a Jewish settlement, company officials said Monday.

A lucrative product of interim peace efforts, the casino efficiently transferred funds from Israelis barred from gambling at home into cash-starved Palestinian self-rule areas.

Scores of holes from tank rounds, small rockets and machine guns peppered the glass-and-concrete facade of the Oasis Casino in Palestinian-ruled Jericho on the West Bank. The "I" in the gold-plated name sign across the roof was missing.

No injuries were reported.

Casino security chief Alexander Kiss said the night-time barrage originated from Vered Jericho, a Jewish settlement on a rocky hill looming over the world's oldest known town, and an open area on its southern outskirts.

The attack was part of weeks of violence between Israelis and Palestinians that has killed at least 206 people, most of them Palestinians, and crippled a seven-year-old peace process.

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