Israelis kill policemen, raid town

JERUSALEM - Israeli troops entered a Palestinian area of the West Bank yesterday after killing five Palestinian policemen and rocketing security targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

In a night of intense violence, Israeli soldiers demolished a Palestinian police station in a suburb of the West Bank Palestinian-ruled town of Tulkarm and then entered the town and destroyed a house, said the Governor of Tulkarm.

A Palestinian ambulance officer, who declined to be named, said his crew had found the bodies of five men from the Palestinian National Forces shot dead by heavy machinegun fire and dumped in a hole in the ground near Beitunia, west of Ramallah.

The Palestinian death toll was the highest since late March and brought to 418 the number of Palestinians killed since a revolt against Israeli occupation erupted last September after peace talks stalemated.

Earlier, Israeli helicopter gunships and naval boats destroyed at least eight armoured personnel carriers in a fierce missile strike on Palestinian security targets in Gaza.

Helicopters hovered over a security compound 300m from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Gaza City headquarters before they opened fire, the rockets glowing red against the black sky above Gaza.

Thousands of Gaza City residents awoke as the ground shuddered from the explosions, shortly after midnight local time, the eve of a Palestinian national day of mourning to mark the anniversary of Israel's creation on May 15, 1948.

Tension was expected to rise before today's anniversary, which Palestinians mark as the Nakba or "Great Catastrophe" of their uprooting from towns and villages in the first Arab-Israeli war.

The Israeli incursion into the Palestinian-ruled area of the West Bank was the latest of several similar operations in past weeks which have been criticised by the United States.

"[An Israeli force] entered [Palestinian] Area A in Tulkarm ... and demolished a house believed to be a source of fire at the Israeli military," said Tulkarm Governor Izz al-Din al-Sharif.

"This action is unjustified and is a mere demonstration of strength by [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon which is unacceptable to us."

The Army said it had destroyed the house and police station after Palestinians failed to prevent several shooting incidents against Israeli citizens.

In the shooting near Ramallah, Palestinians and the Israeli Army provided conflicting details on the killings.

A Palestinian security source said the five men died when Israeli solders "shelled" a checkpoint they were guarding.

Ramallah Governor Mustafa Liftawi accused soldiers of killing the men while some slept and others were on guard duty as part of what Palestinians say is Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian activists.

An Israeli Army spokeswoman said soldiers on "operational activity" west of Ramallah saw "suspicious figures who were where they were not supposed to be" and opened fire. She said this was the only incident in which soldiers fired at Palestinians in the area yesterday. "It was probably them," she said.

Palestinian Public Security Chief Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh called the missile strike in Gaza City, central and southern Gaza "an unprovoked attack." He said at least eight helicopters took part in the attack.

"The Israeli bombardment tonight in the Gaza Strip indicates that Israel is interested in escalating the tension and came without any reason," al-Majaydeh said.

At least three Palestinian policemen were wounded but none appeared to be in serious condition. It was not immediately clear whether buildings near the armoured vehicles were seriously damaged in the attack.

An Army spokeswoman said the attack was the result of an "unprecedented number of mortar attacks" against Jewish settlements in Gaza and nearby Israeli farming communities in the past four days. She said 17 mortar bombs had been fired.

"The Israel Defence Forces will continue to attack those who carry out terror and those who send them ... in every way we see fit," the Army said.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan accused Israel of using excessive force against the Palestinians.

In an interview with Reuters in Brussels, he said talks between the two sides had produced meagre results.

- REUTERS

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