Israeli Gunships Attack Palestinian Targets in Jenin

Israeli gunships attacked Palestinian targets in Jenin on Sunday evening, according to Palestinian security sources.

Two Israeli gunships fired several missiles on a Palestinian police post in Jenin, causing no casualties as Palestinian policemen were evacuated from the building, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Jenin claimed responsibility for killing two Israelis and wounding three others in a drive-by shooting attack on a school bus along the Jordan valley in the West Bank, on Sunday morning.

Israeli gunships attacked several Palestinian targets in Jericho, Ramallah and El Bireh in the West Bank in retaliation for the Palestinian drive-by shooting and suicide bombings earlier in the day, which claimed the lives of six Israelis and injured 42 others.

Israeli helicopters Attack West Bank Town of Jericho

Israeli helicopter gunships Sunday attacked another West Bank city of Jericho, just an hour after striking an office of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to Palestinian sources.

The Israeli choppers fired missiles on a major base of the Palestinian security forces in Jericho, witnesses said.

Casualties are yet to be known about the two Israeli missle attacks.

The day has witnessed a series of mutual attacks between the Palestinians and Israel, with at least six people being confirmed dead and dozens of others injured.

Israeli Cabinet Approves Army's Green Line Plan

The Israeli security cabinet approved late Sunday afternoon the plan of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on setting up a closed military zone along the 1967 Green Line border, the website of a leading Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.

The security cabinet, however, claimed that the zone should be set up on a case-by-case basis and that the decision to declare any area a closed military zone must be made by the security cabinet itself, said the report.

According to the IDF plan, which was aimed at reducing the operations in the area by Palestinian activists and restricting their freedom to enter Israel, the closed military zone would be located in the narrow coastal plain bordering the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Qalqilya to protect the Israelis from Palestinian attacks.กก

The IDF intended to execute the plan last Wednesday, but the Israeli government froze the plan until Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's return from his visit to Russia.

Sharon ordered the IDF to postpone the announcement and to submit the plan to the security cabinet meeting due on Sunday.

The plan's approval by the cabinet was seen by analysts as Israel's another response to three Palestinian attacks earlier in the day, in which six Israelis were killed and more than 80 others injured.

In retaliation, Israeli helicopter gunships Sunday afternoon launched attacks on Palestinian civilian and security installations in the West Bank.กก






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