Four mortar bombs fell on a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip early Friday, causing no injuries or damage but provoking Israeli tank and helicopter fire in retaliation, an Israeli military source said, cited by AFP.
The mortar attack came in retaliation of Israeli bombarding Gaza Thursday night.
Two strong explosions were heard around 6:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) from the settlement of Netzarim, in the central Gaza Strip, and shortly afterwards, the Israeli army shelled neighboring Palestinian areas.
A firefight then ensued between Israelis and Palestinians, said the agency.
The latest clash came just hours after Israeli helicopter gunships launched overnight raids on Palestinian police headquarters in the Gaza Strip following another mortar attack Thursday.
Five people, including two police officers, were seriously injured during the air raids, according to General Saeb Al-Aziz, commander of the Palestinian forces in northern Gaza.
"This is fresh aggression against the headquarters of the Palestinian national authority and against the Palestinian people," he told AFP, adding: "We call on the international community to put an end to Israel's barbaric aggression."
Eight mortar bombs fired from the Gaza Strip had hit Israeli targets, including a kibbutz in Israel itself late Thursday, in what was thought to be a reply by the Islamic Jihad to the killing earlier in the day of one of its militants, that was blamed on Israel.
PALESTINIANS WARN OF ISRAELI PRESENCE IN AL AQSA
Meanwhile, Harretz reported Friday that the Palestinian Authority has said that any desecration of the Aqasa Mosque site will cause dire consequences.
The Palestinian statement came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s announcement that he would support allowing Israelis to visit to the holy site. The PA announcement from Gaza stated that considering the possibility of visiting the mosque compound is like playing with fire.
Sharon instructed security officials Thursday to find the best way to enable Jewish visits to the “Temple Mount.”
Sharon's visit to the site in September of last year was the reason behind the outbreak of the Intifada of the past six months.
In a related story, the Israeli Supreme Court denied a petition Thursday afternoon by the extremist religious Temple Mount Faithful who requested police permission to pray on the Aqsa during the Passover holiday. The judges accepted the position of the police that to allow prayers on the site would likely lead to riots in Jerusalem and throughout Israel, according to Haaretz.
Friday, a declared day of rage in the Palestinian side, is expected to witness more violent confrontation between Palestinian protestors and the Israeli forces.
US CRITICIZES ISRAEL’S SETTLEMENT PLANS
The United States, meanwhile, rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new government over its latest plans to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Sharon's administration announced it would auction off West Bank land for the building of 700 more Jewish settler houses.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Thursday condemned Israel for the declared settlement policy that amounted to playing with fire, according to Reuters.
"Continuing settlement activity by Israel does risk further inflaming an already volatile situation in the region. This is provocative and we have consistently encouraged both sides to refrain from provocative acts," Boucher told a briefing.
The Construction and Housing Ministry said it had published land tenders for building 496 homes in Maale Adumim near Jerusalem and 212 homes in Alfei Menashe near Nablus.
These were the first tenders published since the election of Sharon.
Housing Minister Natan Sharansky said in a statement events had shown "how important it is to lend a hand to and strengthen" Jews of the West Bank and Gaza. Some 200,000 Jews live in 145 West Bank and Gaza settlements among more than three million Palestinians – Albawaba.com
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