Israel Launches Air Raid in Gaza After Mortar Attacks

Israeli helicopter gunships blasted two Palestinian police buildings and a power station with rockets early today, retaliating for a Palestinian mortar barrage against Jewish settlements in Gaza and a farm in Israel.

The helicopter raid injured two people and cut power to thousands of homes in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinians said. Two police installations in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip were hit by rockets.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s spokesman, Raanan Gissin, said Israel had “no choice” but to respond harshly to mortar fire on Jewish communities. He said Israel would target not only those who fired the shells but also Palestinian security officials who fail to prevent such attacks.

The Israelis attacked after mortar shells fired by Palestinians struck the Jewish areas. No casualties were reported. The tit-for-tat exchanges capped a string of violent incidents in 24 hours.

On Thursday, Iyad Hardan, a leading member of the militant Islamic Jihad group, was killed when a booby-trapped public phone he regularly used exploded on the street in the West Bank town of Jenin.

Palestinians immediately blamed Israel for the killing, which came a day after the sides held “argumentative” and inconclusive talks on ending more than six months of violence.

Israel had named Hardan as one of the most dangerous members of Islamic Jihad and accused him of masterminding bomb attacks against Israel.

Without saying directly that Israel was responsible for Hardan’s death, Sharon told a political meeting in Tel Aviv: “Sometimes we will announce what we did; sometimes we will not announce what we did. We don’t always have to announce it.”

In another action likely to anger Palestinians and hamper peace moves, Sharon’s government announced Thursday that it would auction off West Bank land for the building of 700 more homes for Jewish settlers.

The land auction plans drew quick condemnation from the United States, which used much stronger language than it has in the past on such matters.

“Continuing settlement activity by Israel does risk further inflaming an already volatile situation in the region,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. “This is provocative, and we have consistently encouraged both sides to refrain from provocative acts.”