Killings spark raid on Nablus

NABLUS - Israeli tanks and troops briefly raided an area of the Palestinian-ruled town of Nablus last night and clashed with gunmen.

The West Bank raid followed Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip yesterday after two Palestinian gunmen sprayed gunfire at a cafe near an Israeli Army base in southern Israel, killing two soldiers and wounding 18 before being shot dead themselves.

The Army also said the Palestinians fired a new type of rocket, an upgraded version of the "Qassam" made by the militant group Hamas, into Israel.

It landed harmlessly near a farming community, but Israel had said such a cross-border attack would lead to an escalation of military action to try to quash the uprising.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying terrorism was on the rise, convened a meeting of ministers and defence chiefs at his farm in southern Israel after he returned from a visit to the United States to discuss the rocket and Palestinian attacks.

"There will be a series of operations intended to deter and also, in their sheer scale, to show the Palestinian Authority that Israel will not overlook this escalation," an Israeli security source said after the meeting.

Special attention would be paid to the West Bank, where the Army said it had seized eight of the upgraded rockets.

Palestinian security sources and witnesses said Israeli tanks backed by helicopters entered Nablus from the east and battled gunmen about 200m from the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the centre of the town.

An Army spokesman said infantry and engineering units operated in an area in the southeast of Nablus following attacks that had originated in the town and "in order to prevent further such attacks".

The Palestinian sources said the Army demolished a security post near Balata refugee camp and briefly detained two men before withdrawing.

In Palestinian-ruled Gaza City, sources said the Israeli strike damaged targets at a security compound, including offices of the elite Force 17 guard unit and armoured vehicles near the residence of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who remained blocked in Ramallah.

Two members of the staff of United Nations envoy Terje Roed-Larsen were wounded by flying glass when their office windows were blown out.

Helicopters also struck foundries in the northern Gaza Strip that the Army said were used to make munitions.

The Army said it hit the Ansar-2 security compound in response to the "murderous attack" on the cafe in Beersheba.

Witnesses said two gunmen in civilian clothes drove up near the Israeli military's southern command base and opened fire at the cafe frequented by soldiers. Security forces shot the pair dead.

An official from Hamas said the cafe shooting was a "natural reaction" to Israeli military operations but did not say who carried it out.

Sharon, who obtained a US promise to put pressure on Arafat over militants but failed to get Washington's agreement to cut ties with the Palestinian leader, said on his return that Arafat was responsible for the violence.

- REUTERS

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