New Israeli raids hit Gaza

35 arrested, 8 dead in clampdown

Palestinian youths hurl stones at an Israeli army tank in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Friday.

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israeli warplanes struck Gaza City for the third straight night Friday, targeting Palestinian security facilities that Israel said were used for terrorist activities.

Flames and smoke could be seen coming from buildings used by Force 17, the elite bodyguards for Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. Local officials said at least five people had been hurt.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the strike on the Force 17 compound was in reaction to mortar attacks on an Israeli settlement in northern Gaza.

Palestinian TV said two Israeli F-16 warplanes and two Apache helicopters were involved in the strikes, which hit Force 17 outposts near Arafat's presidential residence. Arafat himself is in Ramallah.

Earlier, Israeli forces killed one Palestinian on a list of people wanted in connection with attacks on Israelis and arrested 35 others. A total of eight Palestinians died in raids and a clash with an Israeli security patrol in the West Bank.

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Friday's airstrikes follow the killings of 10 Orthodox Jews in an ambush by Hamas gunmen Wednesday near the Jewish settlement of Immanuel in the West Bank. Following that incident, Israel declared that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had made himself "irrelevant" and vowed to go after terrorists with Israeli troops.

Meanwhile, Four Palestinian police officers were wounded in a confrontation early Saturday as Israeli troops moved tanks into Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, Palestinian sources said.

Israelis and Palestinians have been engaged in a pattern of attack and retaliation since suicide bombers killed 25 Israelis in Jerusalem and Haifa the weekend of December 1-2.

After the raids Friday, Israel Radio reported that U.S. Middle East Envoy Anthony Zinni was to return to the United States to visit relatives after meeting with Arab leaders in Jordan. His return date had not been decided.

In Washington, President Bush said Friday he intends to hold Arafat to his word about fighting terrorism.

"The world expects Chairman Arafat to lead, and so do I," Bush said. "And I will continue to work with our friends and allies to talk to Mr. Arafat in very blunt terms."

Earlier, Israeli police, troops and armor moved into several towns on the West Bank and Gaza to arrest Palestinian terror suspects.

An Israeli army spokesman told CNN that forces entered Dura, near Hebron; Assira Ashimaliyah, near Nablus; and Salfit, between Nablus and Jerusalem. After carrying out their operations in those villages and another area near Khan Yunis, in Gaza, the Israeli forces left late Friday morning.

A Palestinian on the Israeli wanted list was killed at Salfit, as were five men identified as Palestinian Authority security officers. Israeli authorities did not identify the suspect.

Explosions were seen in Gaza as Israeli planes struck for the third straight night

Fourteen other Palestinians were wounded in the raids, according to Mustafa Barghouti, head of Palestinian Medical Relief Services.

The army spokesman said that when ground and armored forces raided Salfit, there were heavy exchanges of fire. Israeli forces arrested "and hurt people involved in terror activity," he said. In Salfit, mourners called for revenge after the Israelis withdrew.

The army spokesman said Israeli forces arrested about 13 people in Assira Ashimaliyah they suspected of terrorist activities.

In Dura, the spokesman said special ground forces raided the village and arrested three members of the armed wing of Arafat's Fatah faction that the spokesman said were involved in attacks in the area of Hebron. He also said Israeli forces arrested a Hamas activist in Hebron and another in the village of Amtin near Nablus.

And in Gaza, the spokesman said some buildings were demolished on the outskirts of Khan Yunis in order to "stop the threat of shooting from the area towards Israeli settlement of Neve Dekalim and army outposts."

-- CNN Correspondents Matthew Chance and Chris Burns contributed to this report.