Military

DATE=1/12/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL PALESTINIANS (L) UPD

NUMBER=2-298296

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip fell into the Israeli town of Sderot (SID-air-oht), slightly injuring one man. The incident followed a night of violence in the Gaza Strip and Israeli military incursions into several West Bank cities. Larry James reports on the incidents, which left at least two Palestinians dead and 15-others injured.

TEXT: The rocketing was the latest in a series of violent incidents in and around the Gaza Strip.

Fierce gun battles were reported as dozens of Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gun ships entered the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. One man was killed and several people wounded during the exchange of fire.

Several metal workshops were destroyed during the incursion. Israeli officials say the workshops were used to make rockets and other weapons.

Israeli forces also raided the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, demolishing the home of an Islamic Jihad activist killed during an attack on a Navy patrol boat several-months ago.

Palestinians say an unarmed man was killed during that incursion.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the Israeli army says a Palestinian gunman was killed near Hebron when security forces fired back at Palestinians shooting at an Israeli tanker truck.

And in Jenin, Israeli troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles carried out house-to-house searches.

Saturday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat asked militant groups to stop attacks on Israeli civilians during the campaign for Israel's January 28th general election.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon brushed off Mr. Arafat's call, saying it proved it is impossible to negotiate with the Palestinian leader, whom he accused of heading a "terror coalition." (SIGNED)

NEB/LDJ/DW/RAE