Israeli F16 jets and helicopters carried out bombing raids over the governor's house and the police headquarters in the West Bank town of Nablus, Palestinian witnesses told reporters today.
Witnesses said they heard F16 fighter jets attacking the two buildings followed by firing from helicopters, just hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed two Israelis and wounded 30 others in an attack on a nearby Jewish settlement.
According to Palestinian witnesses, the attacks hit four targets: the head office of the governor of Nablus, the police headquarters, the offices of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and a building belonging to Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat.
"We heard F16s flying overhead in a raid, then Israeli helicopters began shelling," said a reporter on the spot.
Palestinian police had closed off the area around the four structures, and there were no reports of any injuries as the buildings had been evacuated earlier in anticipation of a retaliatory raid by Israel in the wake of Saturday night's suicide attack, he said.
Nablus was hit just hours after a Palestinian bomber strapped with nail-studded explosives blew himself up outside a pizzeria in a crowded shopping centre in the nearby settlement of Karnei Shomron last night.
The bomber died in the blast along with two Israelis - a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. Medical officials said at least 30 people were wounded, six of them seriously.
The Israeli army confirmed the strikes were in retaliation for the suicide attack on the nearby settlement of Karnei Shomron.
"As a result of the continuing attacks on Israeli citizens, the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) has carried out air strikes on a number of Palestinian targets," an Israeli army spokesman told reporters.
Among the targets were Mr Arafat's office in Nablus, the governor's building, or Mukhatar, and the headquarters of the Palestinian police, he said.
An Israeli military source said F16 fighter jets had attacked Mr Arafat's office compound, while the other targets were hit by helicopter attacks.
Israeli forces also mounted an incursion into the eastern part of the West Bank town of Ramallah, moving into areas within the Palestinian-controlled area A, a Palestinian security source said.
Armed clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinians after an unspecified number of Israeli tanks and troops moved into the area just after 3 am (1 a.m. Irish time), but no injuries were reported, the source said.
AFP