9 Palestinians killed in Israeli air attacks
( 2001-05-19 09:09 ) (7 )

Nine Palestinians were killed Friday in Israel's first warplane attack since it occupied the Palestinian territories in 1967, the Palestinian health ministry said.

A ministry official said Israel raided the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah with F-16 fighters.

Eight of the dead were killed in a building targeted by the Israelis in Nablus, and 44 others were injured, the official said.

Among the injured in the building was Abu Hunnud, who Israel considered one of the leaders of the armed branch of Hamas, the militant movement that claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Friday inside Israel that left six dead and 100 wounded, Hunnud's brother told AFP.

Israel justified the unprecedented warplane strikes because of the "seriousness" of the attack in the coastal resort of Netanya.

Hospital sources identified the dead Palestinians as Nadi Ahmed Hamid, Mowataz Rajeh al-Khatib, Wail Abu Khudeir, Rifat Ziad Methaluni, Ayman Khalil Muruf, Ahmed Khaled Sadek, Khaleed Ibad Subeeh and Nasri Nasser Yaakub.

All were around 20 years old, from the northern West Bank and worked for various Palestinian security services.

A member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 bodyguard was killed in a separate Israeli bomber raid against Palestinian targets in Ramallah. He was identified as 21-year-old Ismael Abu Rafee.

Another 14 Palestinians, including two civilians and two members of Force 17, were injured during the raid, Palestinian sources said.

Two Palestinians were also seriously wounded by Israeli tank shells fired on the Palestinian town of Bitunia near Ramallah.

In the Gaza Strip, 10 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli strikes, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The strikes came after a Palestinian bomber blew himself up in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya, killing five people and wounding about 100, an Israeli police spokesman told AFP.

The dead included two Israeli women aged 67 and 51 years respectively, another woman and two men, the spokesman said.

Police had originally said seven were killed in the bombing. The spokesman attributed the confusion to the "state of the bodies, which were completely torn apart."

Before the air raids in the Gaza Strip Friday evening, five Palestinians, including three children, were wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire as they played by the Karni border crossing, a frequent flashpoint for violence, Palestinian medical sources said.

One of the children, age 10, was hit in the head by a live bullet and remained in serious condition.

A settler was also shot dead Friday and two others injured in a roadside ambush while driving near Ramallah.

A total of 553 people have been killed since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September. Of the dead, 452 have been Palestinians.