DATE=10/12/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)
NUMBER=2-267828
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICE AT:
INTRO: Israeli helicopters have fired rockets at targets in the West Bank and near Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the Gaza Strip. V-O-A Correspondent Meredith Buel in Jerusalem reports the attacks came after two Israeli soldiers were killed by an angry Palestinian mob.
TEXT: Israeli helicopter gunships fired rockets into the West Bank town of Ramallah. The rockets hit the Palestinian Authority's headquarters as well as a Palestinian police station and a television transmitter. And, IIsraeli army tanks moved into position near the town.
Rockets also were fired near Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian official says Mr. Arafat was not hurt in the explosions.
Columns of thick smoke filled the area in Ramallah and Gaza and panicked residents ran for cover.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat charged that Israel is launching an all-out war and appealed for international intervention.
Earlier, an angry mob of Palestinian protesters stormed a police station in Ramallah where Israeli soldiers had been taken into custody. Two soldiers were killed, their bodies mutilated and burned.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its air raids against the targets were a "symbolic warning" to Palestinian leaders. The statement said the Israeli army "will not sit idly by when acts of violence are committed."
The Israeli army has now sealed off Palestinian cities to prevent people from entering or leaving the areas.
The attacks by the Israeli military follow two weeks of clashes and bloodshed, mostly between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protestors.
The violence was sparked when Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited a sensitive site in Jerusalem's Old City that is sacred to Muslims and Jews. (Signed)
NEB/MB/KL/JWH
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