Israeli warplanes have bombed the control tower at Gaza International Airport. Security buildings close to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s offices in Nablus have also been bombed. There are no reports of any casualties.
The attacks are apparently in retaliation for a number of Palestinian attacks today. Earlier, ten Israelis were killed in an attack on a bus near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Up to 30 were injured in the attack.
Attackers opened fire and threw grenades at the bus. The Israeli Government said that it held the Palestinian Authority responsible and would find a way to respond.
Ambulance workers said they were fired on when they arrived at the scene. Responsibility for the attack has been jointly claimed by the armed wing of Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade - an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah group.
The Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, has closed all institutions belonging to the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
An anonymous telephone caller to the Reuters news agency said that the attack was in response to recent killings by Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In a separate development, two Palestinian suicide bombers are reported to have blown themselves up outside a hotel in a Jewish settlement area in the Gaza Strip. Israeli security sources said four people were injured in the attack.
Earlier, four Palestinians were reported to have been killed in Israeli helicopter attacks in the Gaza Strip. Seventeen were said to be injured after the attacks.
Witnesses said that one of the attacks, on a refugee camp at Khan Younis, coincided with the end of evening prayers.
Israeli Army Radio said the location had been used by Palestinians to launch mortar bombs at a nearby Jewish settlement.
