NABLUS - Israel missiles hit Palestinian Government targets in the West Bank yesterday in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed two teenagers and wounded 20 people in a Jewish settlement.
The air strikes in the city of Nablus capped 24 hours of death and retribution that made German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's appeals for peace - issued after high-level talks - look futile.
Witnesses said warplanes and helicopter gunships carried out the attacks, which severely damaged a Palestinian Authority building, a police compound and offices reserved for Yasser Arafat during his visits. No casualties were reported.
Earlier, a Palestinian bomber strapped with nail-studded explosives blew himself up outside a pizzeria in a crowded shopping centre in the nearby settlement of Karnei Shomron.
The bomber died in the blast along with two Israelis - a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. Medical officials said at least 20 people were hurt, six of them seriously.
It was the first time during the uprising that a suicide bomber has caused such carnage inside one of the heavily guarded settlements that dot the West Bank.
The bombing took place just hours after Fischer, following a meeting with Arafat, said the situation was deteriorating from "bad to worse" and appealed for an immediate ceasefire.
In other developments yesterday:
* Hamas said it had fired two more of its new Qassam-2 rockets and threatened similar strikes against major Israeli population centres.
The rocket strike on Kfar Aza north of Gaza caused no casualties. The Qassam-2 has a longer range - up to 8km - than weapons previously used by Palestinians and can hit Israeli cities from the West Bank.
* Three Palestinians died in a gunfight with Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
* A Hamas militant on Israel's wanted list died when his car blew up in the West Bank city of Jenin in what the militant Islamic group said was an Israeli assassination that would be avenged.
* An estimated 14,000 pro-peace Israelis gathered in central Tel Aviv for a rally organised by the leftist Peace Now movement.
- REUTERS
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Israelis hit back after suicide bomber kills teens
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