Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian and wounded ten others early Saturday during an incursion into Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that Israeli troops fired at Palestinian homes in the refugee camp, killing Abdo Abu Bokra, 29, and wounding ten others, leaving several in serious condition.
Israelis in tanks, bulldozers and armored personnel carriers moved about 150 yards (meters) into Palestinian territory on the outskirts of Khan Yunis, according to Palestinian security sources, cited by WAFA.
An Israeli military spokesman told Haaretz newspaper that “the IDF said its troops moved on a cell of five Palestinians who were carrying out an attack from an area where frequent gunfire is directed at Israeli forces.”
Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official Friday called on the United States not to block a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel.
"We call on the American administration not to block the Security Council from voting on a resolution" condemning Israel, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said in a statement after meeting in the West Bank town of Jericho with US envoy David Satterfield.
He said the Palestinian Authority had approached the UN "for major international support to secure a halt to Israeli aggression against institutions in Jerusalem and Abu Dis," referring to the closure of Orient House, the unofficial headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in occupied east Jerusalem, and a Palestinian office in the Abu Dis suburb.
Erakat said "American hesitation over a timetable for applying the Mitchell report (to end the crisis) and the sending of observers is seen by the Israeli government as a green light for continuing its attacks on the Palestinian people."
The statement said the US envoy reiterated his country's opposition to "any Security Council resolution" on the matter.
Israel was on heightened security alert Friday after authorities arrested two Palestinians they say intended to set off a bomb in a crowded port city, as intelligence reports warned of further attacks.
A military spokesman said Israel had tightened its grip around Bethlehem, Ramallah and Qalqiliya in the West Bank early Friday in a bid to stop Palestinians from getting around roadblocks and entering Israel.
In addition, police set up blockades on the main thoroughfares in northern Israel, in particular in the Haifa area, at entrances to the port, and the Hadera region northwest of Tel Aviv, AFP said.
Army patrols, border guards and explosives sniffer dogs were also deployed in force in many areas, including around the central market in west Jerusalem.
Israel claimed Friday evening that the measures had paid dividends, announcing the arrest of two members of the Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, said to be carrying a bomb they intended to set off in Haifa.
Security officials said the pair were detained by agents of Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Beth, in the Arab Israeli village of Baka El Gharbyeh, in the Wadi Ara area northeast of Tel Aviv on Friday morning.
They were said to be carrying a bomb packed with 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of explosives, nails and chunks of metal.
The Israeli press was full of warnings of further Palestinian attacks, as the Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation showed no signs of letting up, according to AFP.
The Yediot Ahoronot paper reported Israeli security had received "hot" pinpoint warnings of intended suicide bomb attacks in the north and center of Israel by Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Public radio cited a senior security official warning that the Palestinians were trying to smuggle explosives and car bombs from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
The heightened tensions come after two recent suicide bombings in west Jerusalem and Haifa.
Along with the bombers, 15 people died and more than 100 others were injured in those two incidents.
"We have precise information about planned attacks by terrorists of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad," Avi Pazner, advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told journalists late Friday.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and armored troop carriers remained on standby for a third day to enter Beit Jala, on the outskirts of Bethlehem, if Palestinian fighters opened fire on on the neighboring Jewish settlement of Gilo, Haaretz newspaper said.
Elsewhere Friday, Palestinian sources said 15 Palestinians were injured, one critically, in a series of clashes with Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip.
Fifteen of the wounded were boys, and one was in a critical condition after being shot in the head, medical sources said, cited by WAFA.
AFP's latest death tally for the Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation comes out to 13 Arab Israelis, 547 Palestinians, and 146 Israelis, putting the ratio of casualties at around four Palestinians killed for every Israeli loss.
Israel’s wounded number in the high hundreds, according to army sources, while the Palestine Red Crescent Society puts the number of Palestinians injured at over 14,000.
Amnesty International reported early this year that almost 100 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli soldiers, nearly all in situations where the occupation troops were under no immediate threat.
The latest Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation began last September – Albawaba.com
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