GAZA CITY Ñ Palestinian insurgents have scored their first strike
against an Israeli target with their indigenous anti-tank missile.
Palestinian sources said the strike was reported on Friday when a
military bus was hit by an Al Bana anti-tank missile. The Israeli bus was
driving in the Gaza Strip toward the Jewish community of Netsarim.
The rocket struck the bus and heavily damaged the vehicle. The
passengers were not hurt.
The sources said the rocket traveled several hundred meters. They said
it was the first time the launcher and rocket worked in tandem. In previous
attacks, the launcher failed to propel the rocket more than a few meters.
Hamas developed the Al Bana as well as the Kassam-class short-range
rocket. The production programs were under the direction of Salah Shehada,
who was killed in an Israeli air raid last week.
Palestinians also fired the Al Bana on Saturday toward an Israeli
military outpost in the Gaza Strip. There was no report whether the firing
was successful.
On Friday, Hamas announced that a new leader was appointed to replace
Shehada. The leader was not identified but Palestinian sources said the
appointment was that of Mohammed Deif, regarded as being responsible for
most of the movement's suicide bombings in Israeli cities.
On Friday, four Israelis were killed in a Palestinian ambush near
Hebron. The military wing of Fatah, the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade took
responsibility for the attack.
In Washington, the United States has announced a new policy that will
veto any United Nations Security Council resolution on the Middle East that
does not explicitly condemn what officials termed Palestinian terrorism.
U.S. officials said the new policy was relayed during a closed council
meeting last week on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
