World Tribune.com

Blanchard

Rockets fly in Gaza on eve
of Zinni's arrival

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Monday, November 26, 2001

GAZA CITY Ñ Fierce fighting has erupted between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the eve of a peace mission by a new envoy of the Bush administration.

Palestinian gunners fired mortars and rockets throughout the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday. One Israeli soldier was killed in a Palestinian mortar barrage on the Israeli community of Kfar Darom.

Israeli attack helicopters responded by firing missiles at PA naval and police posts in several areas of the Gaza Strip. Several buildings were destroyed in a barrage of what Palestinian sources said was comprised of 20 missiles.

The fighting intensified on the eve of a visit by U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni. Zinni arrives in Israel on Monday as part of a new effort by Washington to implement a ceasefire between the Jewish state and the PA.

The Islamic opposition Hamas movement has pledged to avenge the Israeli assassination of its leading military commander. Mahmoud Abu Hanoud was one of three Palestinians killed by a missile fired by an Israeli attack helicopter on Friday.

Abu Hanoud was regarded as the leading Hamas bombmaker and the architect of numerous Hamas suicide attacks in Israel. Israeli military sources said Abu Hanoud had been the target of a manhunt for several years.

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