Israeli aircraft fired Monday night several missiles at Palestinian targets in Gaza City. Palestinian sources reported that five people were moderately wounded in the strike.
Confirming the strike, Israeli military sources said that one of the targets was a workshop used to manufacture missiles and ammunition. "Israeli air force helicopters attacked a foundry used as a weapons factory in Gaza," the Israeli army said in a statement. "The Israeli armed forces will continue to damage and destroy the terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, wherever hostile terrorist activity is being carried out against Israeli citizens," the statement said.
The strike started when at least three Israeli helicopters flew over the north-eastern part of Gaza City for about 15 minutes. Thress missiles were fired at a metal factory located between the Sabra and Zeitouni neighborhoods. Palestinian security sources said one missile hit the target and destroyed it and two other missiles did not explode, adding that the air strike on the area was retaliation for Palestinian attacks at Jewish settlements in Gaza Strip.
The assault came as Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was convening a top-level security meeting in Jerusalem, attended by Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and top Shin Bet officials, Haaretz reported.
Sharon was consulting with his defense officials in the wake of the latest Palestinian attack. The forum was discussing possible measures that could be employed to reduce the number of attacks, reports said.
Meanwhile, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Monday that tanks had once again surrounded the headquarters of the Palestinian leader in Ramallah. According to him, no-one was allowed to enter the compound, including top PA officials.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers fired at a group of Palestinians breaking curfew in the West Bank of city of Nablus, killing a 14-year-old youth, Palestinian witnesses said. (Albawaba.com)
