SanFranGate

4 PDT JENIN, West Bank (AP) --

Israeli helicopters fired rockets at a car parked near the Palestinian Authority security office in the West Bank town of Jenin on Saturday, killing at least one person, witnesses said.

The car, believed to belong to a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, was hit by at least five rockets, witnesses said. They added that four helicopters flew overhead and fired the rockets.

Emergency services arrived to extinguish the flames that engulfed the car, now a twisted pile of metal. The badly burned body of at least one person was seen taken out of the car.

The attack comes a day after Israeli bulldozers flattened a police station and five homes in the deepest foray into Palestinian territory since field commanders last week were given a free hand to carry out such retaliatory raids.

Also Friday, a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops who fired live ammunition at several dozen stone throwers in Gaza. In Jerusalem, a pipe bomb injured two Polish tourists. And the Israeli army responded to mortar attacks by firing tank shells at the central Gaza refugee camp of Jabaliya, injuring two.

Since fighting erupted in late September, 438 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 77 on the Israeli side.

The latest fighting comes after the Palestinians on Thursday reaffirmed that they accepted without conditions a truce proposal made by an international commission.

The panel, headed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, said both sides must take steps to halt the fighting, along the lines of a U.S. cease-fire deal brokered in October, and that Israel must freeze settlement construction.

Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday praised the findings, saying the panel produced "a very fine report." He said the report "may also give us a launch pad to start a new initiative" in the Middle East.

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2001

Answers

BBC UPDATE - Saturday, 12 May, 2001, 15:20 GMT 16:20 UK

Israeli rockets kill Fatah activist

Israeli helicopters have carried out a rocket attack on a car parked near the Palestinian Authority security headquarters in the West Bank town of Jenin, killing two people and injuring at least 15.

The vehicle, reported to have belonged to a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, was reduced to a burning, twisted pile of metal.

Palestinian policeman Ala'a Jahoudi was killed by shrapnel as he stood close to the car.

A man inside the car, identified as Mo'tassem al-Sabbah, died of severe burns. He is said to have been a senior member of the Tanzim, a militia associated with Fatah.

After the incident, the Palestinians condemned what they call Israel's "policy of assassination" directed against prominent security officials.

Thousands of mourners attended the funerals of the two victims, calling for revenge and for peace efforts with Israel to be abandoned.

Earlier, Palestinians had buried 16-year-old Hassan Tafish, who was shot dead on Friday while throwing stones at Israeli troops at the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel.

Three Palestinian stone-throwers were wounded at the same crossing on Saturday.

And Israeli forces used tanks and heavy machine guns against Palestinian gunmen holed up in a cemetery opposite the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim. One settler had earlier been injured in a mortar attack.

Single target

In Jenin, witnesses said four helicopters flew overhead and fired up to five rockets at the car.

The first rocket missed, giving three other men time to escape before the other rockets struck. Mr Sabaa was hampered by a leg injury.

"I am sure that the gunships were targeting one person," witness Ghassan Samer said.

"This is terror by the Israelis, they put terror in the heart of the people by shelling a car near so many people."

Reuters news agency quoted Tawfiq al-Tarawi, the head of Palestinian intelligence in the West Bank, as saying that the Israelis were targeting an intelligence officer named as Abdel-Karim Oweis.

Mr Oweis was injured in the attack, but the extent of his injuries is not clear.

There has been no statement so far from the Israeli army.

But according to Israel radio: "One of the passengers was a senior Tanzim member in Jenin who was involved in producing mortars and shooting at Israeli settlements."

Escalation

Military sources said on Friday that Fatah, Tanzim and Force-17, Mr Arafat's presidential guard, were all now considered enemies.

Friday saw an escalation of the violence between the two sides, with Israeli forces bulldozing a police station and five homes in the Gaza Strip, and shelling the village of Beit Laha.

Two Polish tourists were injured by a pipe bomb at one of the entrances to Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli police say more such attacks are possible in the city.

Israel says its incursions into Palestinian areas will continue as long as Israeli citizens face the danger of attack from Palestinian militants.

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2001