Israel rockets West bank, Gaza Strip
Wednesday, March 28, 2001 02:38 PM EST
TEL AVIV, Israel, Mar 28, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) --
Israeli helicopter gunships launched a heavy barrage of rockets on targets
belonging to the Palestinian Force 17 in the West Bank and other locations
Wednesday, just hours after a suicide bomber killed two Israeli schoolboys at a
bus stop near the border town of Neve Yemin.
Israel Channel 2 TV said Israel was attacking bases and training camps in
Ramallah and Hebron, while Palestinian television reported attacks on Dir
al-Balah and Khan Yunes in the Gaza Strip. There was no immediate report on
injuries or damage.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told UPI, "They are
shelling from helicopters. It's the heaviest since the beginning of the
Intifada."
The spokesman said the rocketing began at 7.40 p.m., and that there was also
heavy machine gun fire. Helicopters attacked a Force 17 headquarters in the West
Bank town of Ramallah, while in the Gaza Strip it attacked a Force 17
installation near the Jabaliya refugee camp, an arms depot near Ansar, a
training base in the southern Gaza Strip and a Palestinian Authority armored
vehicle.
The Israeli army said the operation was "part of an initiated IDF operation
designed to directly hit sources responsible for terror."
The two Israeli schoolboys were killed Wednesday morning and four other people
were injured when a Palestinian suicide bomber approached them on foot at a bus
stop and detonated his charge.
Authorities said the incident occurred near Neve Yemin, in Israel proper, a
short distance from the West Bank town of Kalkilya.
The slain schoolboys, ages 15 and 14, were part of a group waiting for an
armor-plated bus to take them to a special school in the West Bank for children
with learning disabilities.
Hananel Tuito, one of the wounded, said the bomber approached the group and
spoke with the two killed before setting of the explosion.
In other incidents of violence Wednesday, a suspicious package in Netanya
exploded as it was being probed by a police robot. No one was injured. Also
Wednesday, an explosive device was disarmed safely at a market in Petah Tikva.
And a Palestinian youngster was killed in the Gaza Strip when he played with an
unexploded device. Two or three other children were injured, authorities said.
On Tuesday, two explosions in Jerusalem left one suicide bomber dead and at
least 30 people wounded. Monday, a sniper killed a 10-months-old Israeli baby in
a settler compound in Hebron.
The attacks came as Arab leaders held a summit in Amman, Jordan. Israeli Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres said Tuesday he believed the attacks were designed "to
impress" Israel and the Arab leaders.
By JOSHUA BRILLIANT
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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