Israel launches missile strike against Hamas
Palestinians aiming for polls next year
AFP, Gaza City
Israel pressed its threatened onslaught against Hamas yesterday, launching an early morning air strike in the Gaza Strip and a major search operation in the northern West Bank following this week's deadly double suicide bombing by the Palestinian militant group. Israeli helicopters swooped down on the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip overnight and launched a rocket at a home suspected of being used by Hamas to manufacture weapons and explosive devices. Palestinian security sources said the building, which was targeted in a similar raid two months ago, was severely damaged, although there were no immediate reports of casualties. Israeli troops also slapped a curfew on four northern West Bank villages and carried out a massive search operation for wanted militants. Commanders made the order in the villages of Jaba, Sandakumieh and Asafa Saturday morning. The curfew was imposed in Hilat Adaher the previous day following clashes between troops and stonethrowing protestors. All four villages are close to the town of Jenin, regarded by Israel as a militant bastion. Troops were going house to house looking for suspects. In Jaba, they surrounded a school. An incursion into the nearby village of Yamun sparked a gunbattle between troops and armed militants. In the Fara refugee camp, a Palestinian was seriously wounded by Israeli fire. In the town of Tubas, troops were greeted by stonethro-wing protestors. The Israeli military would only confirm it detained five Hamas activists in the West Bank overnight. The whole territory has seen intense military activity since Tuesday's deadly suicide bombings in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva by Hamas which killed 16 people, aside from the bombers from the Islamic militant movement. On the political front, the Palestinians said they were aiming to hold elections across the occupied territories in spring of next year. "We hope to be able to hold general elections (presidential, parliamentary and municipal) next spring," the head of the central electoral commission, Ali Jarbawi, told reporters at Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters flanked by the Palestinian leader. The two men then launched a voter registration driver, that Jarbawi said should last a month. A further three months would then be necessary for the rest of the preparations, he added.
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