<

Israeli Helicopters Retaliate in Gaza City
Saturday, December 8, 2001
(3:52 PM ET)
By Ibrahim Barzak
The Associated Press

Short

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- AP
Israel fired on Palestinian security buildings for the second straight day Saturday, launching missiles from helicopters in a pre-dawn raid in retaliation for mortar attacks on Jewish settlements.

The strike badly damaged three buildings inside the Rafah refugee camp, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said, but no injuries were reported.

Palestinian security buildings throughout the Gaza Strip had been evacuated Friday after an Israeli F-16 jet struck a police compound near Gaza City early in the day, injuring 20 people.

The attacks marked a resumption of Israeli military action against Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority after a pause Israel said was meant to give the Palestinian leader a chance to toughen his crackdown on terrorism.

The 1:30 a.m. strike at the security complex inside the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza hit three buildings belonging to military intelligence and Force 17, Arafat's personal guard, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said.
(More: The Nando Times News Source)
2001 © The Associated Press.

Dan