Mid-East violence spiralled dramatically yesterday with a series of incidents. Israeli attack helicopters launched a strike in the Gaza Strip; three Israelis were seriously wounded in two attacks; and members of Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement vowed revenge after six Palestinians were killed in a powerful West Bank explosion in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The helicopters destroyed a Palestinian police station in Gaza City which Israeli army officials said was being used to produce mortar shells and other weapons. The strike followed the firing of five mortars overnight on Sunday at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, in which a seven-year-old girl was injured.
At the funerals of the six Fatah members, who were killed when a huge explosion ripped through a used-car-parts shack near the West Bank city of Nablus, senior movement members blamed Israel for the blast.
Initially, Palestinian security officials said the cause of the blast was unknown, but later Palestine Radio claimed the six were killed by shells fired from a tank. According to other eyewitness accounts, however, the explosion appeared to come from within the storehouse and blew off the roof.
Israeli security officials said that several of the men killed were on an army "wanted" list, and had been involved in carrying out two bomb attacks in recent months. But they denied any involvement in the explosion, suggesting it was a "work accident' and that the six had been preparing a bomb.
But Palestinian leaders accused Israel of assassinating the six, insisting it was part of Israel's policy of eliminating Palestinian militants. "This policy will destroy any hope for peace. Resistance will continue," said Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Mr Ahmed Abdel Rahman.
"This is a well-planned assassination of Fatah cadres," said Mr Tawfiq al-Tirawi, the West Bank Intelligence chief. Palestinians say over 40 militants have been assassinated by Israel since the start of the new Intifada in September last year.
The bloodshed continued yesterday afternoon when an ultra-Orthodox Jew was stabbed near Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The man's assailant escaped, and he was admitted to hospital in critical condition.
Three members of the Israeli paramilitary Border Police were then ambushed by Palestinian gunmen in a drive-by shooting near the West Bank city of Tul Karm. Two were seriously injured. The gunmen fled the scene.
In the centre of Jerusalem a small bomb hidden in a beer can exploded in a supermarket after it was placed on a shelf. There were no injuries. Three further reports of explosions in Jerusalem turned out to be false alarms yesterday. In two cases the cause of the alarm was an exploding car tyre. A third loud bang, near an Israeli government office complex in East Jerusalem, was caused by an aerosol can that exploded in a car as a result of the intense summer heat.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians reported that two young boys - aged 17 and 11 - were shot and injured by Israeli troops during clashes near the Israel-Egypt border.