Israeli tanks are reported to have fired six shells at a Palestinian security post in the West Bank this evening in a day of violence which saw one Israeli killed.
The reports of the Israeli attack came from Palestinian security officials who said the shells were launched from the Jewish settlement of Psagot and fired at a post in El-Bireh, next to the town of Ramallah in the West Bank.
They said no one was injured in the shelling.
Earlier Palestinian gunmen shot and killed an Israeli motorist near a West Bank village today, Israeli police said.
An armed group linked to Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction have claimed responsibility for the killing.
The Israeli man was parked near a factory for concrete blocks on the very border, between Israel and the West Bank, assistant police commander Mr Dov Lutsky told Israel radio.
Mr Lutsky said a preliminary investigation showed the Israeli man likely came to the area - situated between the northern Israeli community Kibbutz Magal and the Palestinian village Zeita in the West Bank - for a business deal.
Israeli media reported Israeli forces were searching for the gunmen. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli troops imposed a curfew on Zeita.
This morning Israeli F-16 jets fired two missiles at Palestinian police headquarters in Gaza City, wounding three Palestinian policemen and causing heavy damage, Palestinian security officials said.
The officials said planes had also hit a Palestinian military intelligence post in Deir al-Balah, south of Gaza.
An Israeli Army statement the raids were in response to Palestinian attacks yesterday in which an officer and two soldiers were killed and seven soldiers wounded in the Gaza Strip, and two civilians were killed and three wounded on the Modiin Road.
A Palestinian security official called the strikes "a very grave aggression from the Israeli Army" and said they would lead to a "very dangerous situation" in the area.
The Israeli statement said "direct hits were recorded on the targets and the planes returned safely to base."
AFP &