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Explosives experts search for evidence at the site of the Netanya suicide bombing on Friday. (AP)
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| By Ellis Shuman May 20, 2001 |
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In retaliation for Friday's suicide bombing in Netanya, Israeli F-16 fighter jets bombed Palestinian installations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It was the first time jets had struck targets in the Palestinian territories since the Six Day War in 1967.
Twelve Palestinians were reportedly killed in the attacks on security buildings in Ramallah, Tulkarm, Nablus, Jenin and the Gaza Strip. Many of the victims were policemen killed when the jets fired missiles striking the prison and security headquarters in Nablus. Media reports said that Mahmoud Abu Hannoud, a Hamas bomber mastermind, was being held in the Nablus jail. According to the Associated Press, Hannoud was only lightly wounded in the attack.
On Friday afternoon, IAF helicopters fired rockets at a Force 17 building in Ramallah; one man was reported killed in the attack. Combat helicopters attacked a Force 17 base east of the Jabaliya refugee camp and the naval base at Sudaniya, a few hundred meters from Arafat's headquarters in Gaza City.
Additional helicopter attacks came on Saturday, when the IAF struck at targets in Tulkarm and Jenin. Many of the buildings had been evacuated prior to the attack, but Palestinians reported that a school was struck in Tulkarm and at least 25 people were wounded, including some pupils.
Use of fighter jets draws criticism
"This is a serious message to stop suicide attacks,'' Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told The Associated Press. "This more serious attack is a message to the other side that the deteriorating situation, caused by the suicide bombing, will not be accepted.''
Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, warned "against this serious escalation against our people." Abu Rudeina urged "the international community and especially the United States to immediately intervene to halt Israeli aggression."
PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo charged, "Israel's military attack yesterday would not have taken place without the prior notification of the U.S. administration."
According to The Jerusalem Post, "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon briefed [U.S. Secretary of State] Powell on Friday after the Netanya attack and Israel's response but a State Department official denied Palestinian claims that the US gave Israel a 'green light' to use warplanes to bomb Palestinian targets."
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply disturbed by the disproportionate Israeli response to today's appalling terrorist attack in Netanya." Annan said the Israeli air strikes would " increase bitterness even further on the Palestinian side."
The bombing raid also drew criticism from Israeli cabinet ministers who were not included in the decision making process. The air strike was apparently approved by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Benyamin Ben Eliezer. Ben Eliezer said that he was "not exactly happy about all the bombastic actions, [but] sometimes you don't have any choice.''
Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres said on Saturday that Israel was still striving for peace and had no choice but to respond to attacks. "If there won't be an initiation, there won't be an Israeli attack," Peres said in a statement.
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