Israel pummels Gaza foundries in retaliation for suicide attack

GAZA - Israeli helicopter gunships struck two metal foundries in the Gaza Strip yesterday, hours after two local Palestinian militants killed 10 Israelis in a suicide attack.

Palestinian witnesses said one man was wounded when at least 10 missiles slammed into foundries in the Gaza City districts of Sheikh Radwan and Zeitoun, both Islamic militant bastions.

The Israeli military, whose helicopters have often hit leaders of the Palestinian revolt and their arsenals in Gaza and the West Bank, did not immediately comment.

But Israeli security sources said the Gaza air strike was likely retaliation ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for a double suicide bombing at Israel's port city of Ashdod that killed 10 people and wounded at least 20 others.

Islamic militant group Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, part of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed joint responsibility. They called the attack revenge for deadly Israeli raids against militant strongholds in Gaza.

The bombers, aged 17 and 18, were from Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp.

"The killing of Jews has become a form of worship that gets us close to God," said bomber Nabil Mas'oud, 18, in a pre-recorded videotape.

The bombings took place just as aides of Sharon and Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurie were wrapping up talks to arrange a long-awaited summit on reviving a plan for reciprocal steps meant to lead to a Palestinian state in return for peace.

The Israelis called off further contacts that had been planned for today before a possible summit this week.

The Palestinian Authority, which denounced the bombings, called on Israel to stick to a United States-led "roadmap" to peace which has been battered by bloodshed.

"Violence is a failed policy ... and the only way out is serious, credible ... negotiations," Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi told CNN television.

The air strike knocked out power lines and plunged much of northern Gaza into darkness, complicating the work of rescue crews searching the debris and dust.

A missile fired in the direction of a Reuters crew pulled up at the last moment and blew up harmlessly in the sky.

Security sources said Israeli helicopters use missiles with cameras mounted in their noses which allow the pilot to "see" the target and abort if there are too many bystanders nearby.

Israel has vowed to take unilateral "disengagement steps" that would involve a withdrawal from Gaza, but also cost Palestinians some of the land they want for a state if negotiations remain hobbled.

Gaza militants

* The suicide bombings were the first in more than three years of violence by local militants from fenced-in Gaza.

* Security sources said they were checking whether the bombers tunnelled their way out or reached Ashdod, 40km away, by sea.

* Palestinian militants had vowed revenge after Israeli troops killed 14 people in a Gaza raid on March 7.

* The only two suicide bombers to get out of Gaza during the present conflict were two Britons.

* One of them, of Pakistani descent, killed three people at a Tel Aviv bar in April 2003.

- REUTERS