RAMALLAH Ñ Israel has pounded a Palestinian Authority facility in
the
West Bank for the second straight night.
Palestinian sources said Israeli AH-64A attack helicopters fired
missiles at a
PA compound in Nablus on late Thursday. The sources said one person was
wounded in the attack on the Palestinian security facility.
The Israeli attack appeared to be in retaliation for a Palestinian
infiltration of a Jewish settlement in the Jordan Valley on late Wednesday.
A Palestinian insurgent killed three Israelis, two of them whom he took
hostage.
On Friday, Israeli troops entered several West Bank towns in response to
the Palestinian attack on the Hamra settlement. This included the village of
Tamoun, believed to have been the launching pad of the Hamra attack.
Both Hamas as well as the Fatah movement aligned with Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat have claimed responsibility for the attack.
In Washington, the Bush administration called on Israel to ease
restrictions on the Palestinians. President George Bush met Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon and both men said they support the establishment of a
Palestinian state. Sharon said he hoped to deal with an alternative
leadership to that of Arafat.
