Israel attacks Palestinian targets

ON THE NEWS Jerrold Kessel: Israel to begin 'new policy' after suicide attacks

Targets selected in Ramallah and Gaza in retaliation for bombings

In this story: Hamas claims responsibility Those responsible 'will pay the full price' Palestinians reject Arafat responsibility Blast kills 9-year-old RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Jerrold Kessel and Mike Hanna
CNN

GAZA (CNN) -- The Israel Defense Forces launched attacks against targets in Gaza and the West Bank on Wednesday, in retaliation for three bombings over two days that killed four people and wounded dozens more.

The Israeli army said it attacked "selected targets" in the West Bank town of Ramallah and in Gaza. Palestinian sources identified one of the targets as the headquarters of Force 17, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's personal bodyguard, in Gaza.

A member of Arafat's personal guard was among those killed in Wednesday's raids.

The Israelis have contended that Force 17 is involved in the recent string of bombings inside Israel.

Israel Defense Forces officials said their forces hit one target in Ramallah and four in Gaza, including a weapons storage facility and a training center, as well as the presidential guard headquarters.

VIDEO CNN's Richard Roth reports on the negotiations at the U.N. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Rula Amin on the Arab Summit and the role Ariel Sharon might play in the peace process Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Views of the blast wreckage, from CNN's Jerrold Kessel, who also hears from an Israeli official Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO CNN's Mike Hanna confirms reports of Wednesday's attacks 191K/18 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Raanan Gissin, Snr. Sharon Aide: The Palestinian Authority is responsible for the attacks and will pay for it 920K/85 sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Jerold Kessel: Israel to curb what it calls Palestinian terrorism 929K/85 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO U.S. vetoes U.N. observer force for West Bank, Gaza

Witnesses said helicopter gunships and tanks were used in the attacks, which came as a meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's inner Cabinet ended.

Earlier on Wednesday, an apparent suicide bomber set off a nail bomb at a gas station in central Israel, killing himself and two teen-age students waiting at a gas station for an armored bus to school.

Four other people were injured in the blast, which went off about 7:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) at the gas station known as the "Peace Rendezvous" near the village of Sdeh Hemet -- about a half-mile from the so-called "green line" border between Israel and the West Bank.

Hamas claims responsibility

In a telephone call to Reuter news agency, the military wing of the militant Palestinian group Hamas claimed responsibility for the blast -- as well as the second of two blasts in Jerusalem on Tuesday -- and warned more were to come.

Five people were injured in the first blast on Tuesday, a car bomb set off near a busy shopping center as morning rush hour got under way. The second explosion killed one -- a suspected suicide bomber -- and injured at least 27 when it went off alongside a bus in the Jewish French Hill neighborhood.

Sharon convened his inner Security Cabinet for a Wednesday afternoon meeting to discuss a response. Israel's new leader, who trounced incumbent Prime Minister Ehud Barak in elections in February, appeared reluctant to respond to the violence while the Arab League summit was in session in Amman, Jordan -- but the summit ended not long after the Wednesday morning bombing.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli authorities found a bomb in the coastal city of Netanya and carried out a controlled detonation. Later, security forces carried out a controlled explosion of a bomb in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv.

Those responsible 'will pay the full price'

Raanan Gissin, a senior Sharon aide, called for calm from Israelis already angered by Tuesday's bombings and the shooting death of a 10-month-old baby girl struck by sniper fire on Monday.

"It is very important now to have a lot of patience, self-restraint, and cool-headedness," Gissin told CNN. "In other words, no one should take the law in their hands."

"Those that have committed these atrocious crimes will receive full punishment," he said. "You can rest assured of that."

Gissin said that "regrettably" the Palestinian Authority and Arafat -- who, he said, was "gleeing at the Jewish blood that is being spilled" were responsible for the violence.

Gissin stopped short of saying that Arafat himself would face retaliatory measures from the Israelis, saying only that "those around him and those who carry out acts of terror ... will pay the full price."

Palestinians reject Arafat responsibility

But Palestinian Cabinet Minister Hanan Ashrawi called Gissin's response "counterproductive," saying he was "using the language of threat and intimidation and trying to strike at the Palestinian Authority leadership."

"Israel has been using violence against unarmed Palestinian civilians," she said. "It has been escalating its policy of aggression against the whole population. ... I think if you push the Palestinians into a corner, if you drive them to desperation, there will be desperate acts."

Ashrawi rejected Israeli attempts to lay the blame for the violence on Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

"The people who claimed responsibility were the Hamas," she said. "They are outside the PLO."

Blast kills 9-year-old

While the Israelis and Palestinians have been at odds since Israel's birth more than 50 years ago, the last six months have seen a bitter escalation of violence in the wake of stumbling peace talks.

Not all of the violence has been the result of direct conflict. Hospital officials in Gaza said that a 9-year-old boy in Rafah was killed on Wednesday by an exploding tank shell. The boy and three friends, who were critically injured, had been playing with the shell when it went off.

Some Palestinian security officials, however, said the explosion had been the result of a booby trap.

The Israel Defense Forces said that no tank shells had been fired in the vicinity of Rafah, and that no booby traps were in place.

Since September 28, about 475 people have been killed in the violence, nearly 400 of them Palestinians.

Palestinian hopes of support from the United Nations were dashed on Tuesday when the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution to create an international observer force to protect civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.

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Jerusalem bombs kill one, injure 27
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3 injured in Jerusalem car bomb
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The Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Palestinian National Authority
Israel Defense Forces

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