Palestinian compound hammered
HEBRON, West Bank — In the fiercest assault during more than a week of West Bank incursions, Israeli helicopters and tanks pounded the Palestinian Authority's hilltop compound with missiles and gunfire yesterday, aiming to rout Palestinian fighters holed up in the Hebron government complex.
Residents saw dozens of Israeli armored vehicles, tanks and jeeps pull close to the compound, which has been the target of Israeli fire since Tuesday after the gunmen took shelter there.
Hours before the attack, during a couple hours of noontime quiet, Palestinians ventured out to get a good look at the billows of black smoke pouring from the squat gray compound, which had been the center of Hebron's government.
Hebron is one of seven West Bank towns seized by the Israeli military after two suicide bombings in Jerusalem last week.
This week's lockdown comes just weeks after a six-week siege across the West Bank.
The Israeli military said yesterday that 150 people had surrendered from the Hebron compound in three days, including at least 20 top fugitives. Yesterday morning, military officials said that about 40 people, including 15 wanted men, remained inside.
Also yesterday, a 17-year-old Palestinian was killed in a clash with soldiers in the Balata refugee camp next to the West Bank town of Nablus, according to local reports.
In 21 months of violence, 1,739 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 564 people on the Israeli side.
The Palestinian figure includes at least 71 suicide bombers, suspected informers for Israel killed by Palestinian militants, 13 Israeli Arabs killed in pro-Palestinian riots and a German resident of the West Bank.
The Israeli figure includes four non-Jews killed in Israeli army uniform, a worker from the Philippines and two Chinese killed in suicide bombings, two Romanian workers killed in an explosion and a Greek monk killed in a roadside shooting.
In other developments:
• Palestinian officials fumed at a string of threats and condemnations from President Bush.
His plan for bringing peace to the region, laid out Monday, centered on a call for new Palestinian leaders "not compromised by terror." Since then, Bush has also threatened to deny U.S. aid to the Palestinians and refused to rule out military action against Arafat.
"Delaying aid from the international community would also delay the reforms that we already have started within most of our organizations and sectors, in particular in education and the health system," West Bank security chief Jibril Rajoub said.
The United States provides no direct funding to the Palestinian Authority, but has funneled millions of dollars in aid to humanitarian and development projects.
• Israel acknowledged for the second time in a week its forces "acted improperly" in firing on Palestinians violating a curfew.
Three children in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya were wounded, including a 9-year-old in critical condition with brain damage.
Palestinian witnesses and security officials said tanks fired after a curfew break arranged with Israeli authorities to allow high-school students to take final exams.
Apparently after seeing the students on the streets, others headed out to the market, Palestinians said. Soldiers opened fire on the children, the military said.
On June 21, the army said its forces erred in killing four Palestinians, including three children, after a rumor spread that the curfew had been briefly lifted.
• In Jerusalem, police said yesterday that two Jewish settlers, arrested on suspicion of involvement in a rampage in a West Bank village that left a Palestinian dead, have been released without being charged.
A number of settlers went through the Palestinian village of Hawara on June 21, firing rifles randomly, witnesses said, after the funerals of five Israelis killed by a Palestinian infiltrator at the settlement of Itamar a day before.
Compiled from The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and Reuters reports.