Arafat condemns killing of policemen

Arafat, right, meets with EU peace envoy Miguel Moratinos in Gaza City on Monday

In this story: Hezbollah claims Shebaa Farms attack Israel will defend itself RELATED STORIES, SITES

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on Monday accused Israel of assassination in the deaths of five Palestinian policemen.

But Dore Gold, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel's actions were taken in self-defense.

"Israel did not kill them. Israel assassinated them," said Arafat. "These men are guards of an outpost that coordinates with the Israeli outpost. They attacked them. Four of them were sleeping and they assassinated them. This is a dirty immoral operation, not a military operation. They want to break our morale. But our people will not be scared. They should know that Israel will be held accountable for these crimes, a strict accountability."

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"Israel is facing an upsurge of violence by Palestinian security forces," Gold said. "Israel's actions are being taken to bring that violence to an end."

The five Palestinian policemen were shot dead by Israeli troops near the town of Beitunia in the West Bank late Sunday, Palestinian security authorities told CNN on Monday morning. Israeli army officials confirmed that the Israeli soldiers fired on what it called suspicious figures in the area, but did not report any casualties.

Later, the Israeli army said four Israeli civilians were wounded when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo outside Jerusalem. Israeli forces fired back toward the source of the gunfire, which the army said came from inside the neighboring Palestinian village of Beit jala.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said a Palestinian had been wounded at Beit jala, but it was unclear if the two incidents were related.

In another incident -- at a checkpoint near the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza -- the Israel Defense Forces said a man got out of a car firing a weapon and threw a grenade at soldiers.

The IDF said soldiers opened fire, killing the man. They said they discovered an explosive device on his body and kept it so the device could be disarmed.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said, however, that soldiers had killed two Palestinians in the incident.

The Israelis said gunfire was also coming from other cars in the area.

The Israeli army also reported that it had "evacuated and destroyed" a Palestinian police station in the village of Shvika north of Tulkarem. It said forces had also destroyed several other structures used by Palestinians to launch attacks at Israelis.

The army -- which characterized its actions as "proactive ... in response to many shooting incidents that originate from these places against Israeli civilians and security forces, and are not prevented by Palestinian security forces" -- also noted an exchange of gunfire during the operation. There was no immediate comment from the Palestinians.

Hezbollah claims Shebaa Farms attack

While clashes between Israeli and Palestinians continued, pro-Palestinian Hezbollah guerrillas launched an anti-tank missile attack on an Israeli army outpost near the disputed Shebaa Farms region.

The missiles were fired from Lebanon at the Al-Samaka outpost in Shebaa Farms, at the foot of the Golan Heights. Hezbollah officials said two of the missiles scored direct hits.

The Israel Defense Forces said that no one was hurt in the strike but said a dining hall was hit and that if the attack had occurred later, it would have been filled with soldiers. The IDF responded with artillery fire.

Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon last year but remain in the Golan Heights and Shebaa Farms, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and which it says will only be discussed in future talks with Syria. Lebanon and Syria, however, say Shjalaebaa Farms should be returned to Lebanon.

Israel will defend itself

Those reports came after Israeli helicopters attacked Palestinian armored vehicles in Gaza City, north of Khan Younis and near the refugee camp of Jebaliya.

"The Israeli army has attacked a few Palestinian Authority targets in reaction to continuing Palestinian terror and increasing violence during the past few days," said the Israeli army in a statement.

And in a separate attack, the IDF said the Israeli navy fired shells on a Palestinian military observation point near a refugee camp in central Gaza.

Israeli officials said the Palestinian observation point has been used to monitor the movements of the Israeli navy.

A Palestinian policeman looks through a broken window of a police station in Shvika, West Bank, on Monday

Palestinian sources confirmed the Israeli army report but had no comment about the Israelis' characterization of what led to the attack. They told CNN the navy observation point at Nusseirat was heavily damaged, but the attack caused no casualties.

Nusseirat is in central Gaza near the Israeli settlement of Netzarin.

Israeli officials promised the attacks would continue.

The IDF "will continue acting aggressively against those who perpetrate terrorist acts and it will not tolerate the harming of their civilians and soldiers," said the army statement.

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Palestinian National Authority

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