Israeli F-16 warplanes have bombed Palestinian security headquarters in Yasser Arafat's Gaza City compound. Officials said that three bombs completely destroyed the navy police headquarters building. The command centre for Mr Arafat's special guards was badly damaged in the attack.
Twenty two people were hurt, although there were no serious injuries. Two United Nations employees were among the injured.
In a second attack, Israeli helicopters are reported to have fired on a metal workshop in the northern town of Beit Lahia. No one was injured.
This comes hours after Palestinian gunmen shot dead two women soldiers in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. Reports say that the two Palestinian gunmen were killed by Israeli security forces after they pulled up in a car in front of a restaurant outside the base in Beersheva and began shooting. One of them was said to have had a belt of explosives strapped to his body.
An Israeli government official blamed the attack on speeches made by the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in which he called for "millions of martyrs”.
In a separate development, Israeli tanks and bulldozers earlier launched a raid into Palestinian-controlled territory in the northern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister has ended a three-day trip to the United States with words of support from the Bush administration, but without the promise of any US action against Yasser Arafat.
Ariel Sharon held talks with a number of senior American officials, including President Bush, who agreed to keep Mr Arafat, who is under virtual house arrest in his West Bank headquarters, under pressure.
