Palestinians' arsenal now includes Katyusha rockets

TEL AVIV — Authorities are bracing for Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli cities.

Officials said the prospect that the Palestinian Authority would fire rockets at Israeli cities is being discussed in both the military and security forces. They said the current PA mortar attacks on Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip appear to mark a prelude to an attack on Israeli cities.

"If we suspected a year ago that the Palestinian Authority has Katyushas, we are now sure of this," a security source said.

"The PA also has plenty of mortars that can strike Israeli cities from Palestinian areas," he added.

On Tuesday, a car bomb exploded in a shopping center in Jerusalem. Six people were reportedly injured in the morning blast.

Last week, an Israeli soldier was injured from a mortar attack inside Israel. The mortar was fired from the Gaza Strip and was the first such incident since the establishment of the PA in 1994.

On late Monday, Palestinians fired three mortars toward the Jewish settlement of Morag in the Gaza Strip. Nobody was reported injured.

One scenario that has been raised is a Katyusha attack from the northern West Bank hills toward Israeli communities east of Tel Aviv. This includes such cities as Kfar Saba and Ranaana.

Israeli sources said they are concerned that the Palestinians are making such preparations from around the Palestinian city of Kalkilya, which is adjacent to Kfar Saba. Another prospect is that Katyusha rockets will be fired from the West Bank city of Tulkarm, located 14 kilometers east of the Israeli city of Netanya.

Israel plans to maintain what officials term its policy of restraint in the face of Palestinian attacks. They said this would affect any Israeli reaction to the Palestinian killing of a 10-month-old Israeli girl in the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday.

The officials said the policy of restraint would last until after the Arab League summit. President Moshe Katsav said Israel has reached the limit of restraint.

Overnight Tuesday, residents of the Jewish community of Hebron tried to storm an Arab neighborhood of the city from which the sniper fire emanated.

Israeli soldiers stopped the Jews from arriving at the neighborhood.

The escalation in the mini-war comes as the United Nations Security Council has failed to reach agreement on a Palestinian demand to send an international protection force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UN diplomats said they want to reach an agreement by the end of the Arab League summit on Wednesday.