Palestinians, Israelis trade attacks; tanks sent to West Bank

A Palestinian woman is seen through bullet-shattered glass after Israeli forces and Palestinians exchanged gunfire in Hebron

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel Defense Forces said it mobilized tanks and armored vehicles to the West Bank area on Tuesday after mortar attacks were fired in Gilo, a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of East Jerusalem.

"At this point, the IDF is mobilizing infantry and armed vehicles to the West Bank area in light of today's flagrant violation," the Israel Defense Forces said in a written statement. It cited street fires and the "launching of two mortar bombs toward the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo."

The move was the latest in an intensified but familiar cycle of attack and response that has characterized a month in which a cease-fire between the two sides was supposedly in place.

No one was hurt in the two mortar attacks, launched from the Palestinian village of Beit Jalla, but it was the first time the Palestinians had launched mortar fire from the West Bank.

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The Israelis consider the area a Jerusalem suburb and Palestinians consider it occupied territory.

A gun battle followed the first mortar bomb, which landed in the back yard of a building under construction.

The bomb followed by a few hours a fatal Israeli helicopter attack in Bethlehem. The Israelis destroyed a site they believed was hosting a cell of Hamas activists planning an attack for the end of the Maccabiah Games now under way in Israel.

At least four Palestinians were killed and eight others were injured -- a Palestinian source said that one of the dead men was Osama Saada, a man the Israelis say is a Hamas leader.

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority called the attack "an act of war perpetrated by the Israeli government against the unarmed and innocent Palestinian population."

"It's just a war that is systematic, that is daily, that is incremental, that is indeed debilitating, that is destroying the very fabric of Palestinian reality and infrastructure," Palestinian Cabinet Minister Hanan Ashrawi told CNN.

But Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that Israel is showing remarkable restraint as the nearly 10-month-long uprising approaches its one-year anniversary.

"We impose on ourselves a policy of self-restraint in order to try and end this 10-month stretch of violence that is leading both sides to nowhere," Gissin said. "Therefore there is a possibility to make a decision here ... to go to the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. I can tell you we are willing to make painful compromises for that."

Israelis blame the violence on the Palestinians, and say that Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat could end it. The Palestinians blame Israel, saying the Israelis are occupying what they think should rightfully be Palestinian territory.

Tuesday's helicopter attack came a day after a suicide bombing in Binyamina on Monday that killed two Israeli soldiers, 19-year-old Cpl. Hanit Arami and 20-year-old Staff Sgt. Avi Ben-Haroush. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing, and identified the bomber as Nidal Shadouf, 20, from the West Bank town of Jenin. Shadouf also died in the blast.

The Israeli army followed the suicide bombing with tank attacks on four Palestinian military posts: one south of the city of Jenin and three others near Tulkarem in the West Bank, according to Israeli military sources.

Arafat calls for end of attacks

The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing, and Arafat reportedly warned Islamic Jihad and Hamas to cease their attacks on Israel or he would ban their activities.

Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestinian Preventative Security Service in the West Bank, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the attacks should cease because they are "against Palestinian interests."

The militant movements have ignored previous calls by Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to stop their attacks, and they also defy the actions of the Israeli military.

"From our side we are not afraid of any threats by Israel because what can the enemy do?" said Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah Shami. "They have tried everything and they've failed and we have nothing else to lose."

Bush urges restraint

U.S. President George W. Bush telephoned Sharon on Tuesday, urging continued restraint and pledging continued American support for the Mitchell report, which outlined steps to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.

But neither side seemed ready to stand down -- later on Tuesday, Israeli forces in East Jerusalem dispersed Palestinians who had gathered for a memorial service for Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini, who died of a heart attack 40 days ago.

Israeli authorities claimed the service was "provocative," but Palestinians protested that they were not allowed to hold a simple funeral.

-- CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna and State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel contributed to this report