Israeli tanks, helicopters hit Palestinian security compound in Gaza

<br>GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Israeli helicopters and tanks fired on the main Palestinian security compound in Gaza City early Monday, demolishing several buildings that the army said were used to make

Monday, November 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Israeli helicopters and tanks fired on the main Palestinian security compound in Gaza City early Monday, demolishing several buildings that the army said were used to make weapons and seizing grenades and missiles.

In the West Bank, Israeli forces imposed a curfew Monday in a Ramallah neighborhood and searched for a wanted Palestinian, while Israeli officials reportedly considered a proposal to link Jewish enclaves in Hebron following an ambush Friday that killed 12 soldiers and security guards.

Despite the violence and a bitter Israeli election campaign, negotiations continued over a U.S.-European plan to end the Mideast conflict, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

In Gaza City, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the headquarters of Preventive Security, the main official Palestinian force, and tanks and soldiers moved in. Two Palestinian security officers and a TV cameraman working for Reuters news agency were lightly injured, doctors said. No other casualties were reported.

The army said the offices were used to make weapons. Dozens of mortar shells and grenades, three rocket propelled grenades, several anti-tank missiles and a Qassem missile were found, along with welding equipment and intelligence materials, said a Gaza commander, Brig. Gen. Israel Ziv.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the raid showed the ``tight connection between the security forces of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian terror groups.''

Palestinians fired on the troops and shot missiles against tanks but no soldiers were injured, the army said.

A few hours after the Israeli attack, two missiles were shot toward a Jewish settlement near Gaza City but caused no damage or injuries, the army said.

The Israeli forces pulled out after more than three hours, leaving several of the 11 buildings in the security compound in ruins. At the main administration building, targeted for the first time in two years of fighting, furniture was smashed and computers destroyed, their parts littering the floor as firefighters fought a blaze nearby.

Mustafa Mughrabi, 45, who lives near the Preventive Security base, said by telephone that he was hiding under a bed with his children after gunfire hit his house from three directions. Outside, he said he heard ``the sound of explosions mixed with screams of children.''

Palestinian official Tayeb Abdel Rahim, who said his house was hit by bullets, warned that ``security and stability for Israeli people cannot be achieved at the expense of the Palestinian people.''

So far Gaza has been spared the large-scale military operations in which Israel has taken control of most West Bank Palestinian population centers, retaliation for bloody terror attacks. However, Israeli leaders have said that militant groups operate unfettered in Gaza, and the Israeli military would confront them at some point.

Meanwhile, in northern Israel, police searched the home of the father of an Israeli Arab who officials say tried to storm the cockpit of an El Al Israeli Airlines plane en route to Turkey and hijack it, Army Radio said.

The report said soldiers confiscated a computer and questioned several relatives of the suspect, identified by Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency as Tawfiq Fukra, 23. All were released.

El Al general manager Amos Shapira said the passenger ``tried to reach the cockpit with what we assume now is a small pocket knife,'' but was overpowered by security guards before the plane landed safely in Istanbul with 170 people on board.

Though serious incidents of violence were occurring every day, and Israel was at the beginning of a fierce campaign toward a general election on Jan. 28, diplomats were still fine-tuning a document aimed at negotiating a settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The ``road map,'' promoted by President Bush, calls for a three-phase, three-year program that would result in a Palestinian state living in peace beside Israel.

The latest draft, obtained by the AP, contains some answers to Palestinian concerns, including a softening of a demand to name a prime minister to relieve Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of some of his duties. Israel has said the plan must be shelved until after its election and formation of a new government.

The so-called ``Quartet'' working for Mideast peace is aiming for a mid-December conference at which the final draft of the plan would be presented. The quartet is made up of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

On Sunday, Israelis buried most of the 12 soldiers and security guards killed in the Palestinian ambush in Hebron on Friday night and Israeli troops and tanks fanned out through the West Bank city. The soldiers were guarding Jewish worshippers returning on foot from Hebron to the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba when they came under fire.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was quoted by Israeli media as calling for a continuous stretch of Israeli settlements from Kiryat Arba to the hotly disputed holy site at Hebron's center, a move that could mean uprooting many Palestinians.

The Haaretz daily quoted Sharon as saying there was a short window of opportunity _ 48 hours _ to establish facts on the ground and create a continuous line of enclaves.