Israeli helicopters fired at least four missiles on Palestinian security positions near Beit Jala in the northern Gaza strip overnight Monday, Palestinian officials said.
The officials said the target of the raid was a base of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's elite Force-17 guard.
The building hit was destroyed in the attack, but there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
An aide to Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudeina, slammed the continued raids on Gaza.
"It is a dangerous escalation which undermines all the efforts of America and the international community to bring a ceasefire and restart the peace process," he said.
He said the raids were also "proof that Israel wants to sabotage the mission of (US envoy) Anthony Zinni."
"The Americans and the international community must take their responsibilities and stop these attacks. This Israeli policy risks dragging the entire region towards violence and instability."
On Monday, two Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli helicopter raid on the West Bank town of Hebron aimed at a militant of the radical movement Islamic Jihad.
Meanwhile, a Jewish settler was arrested by Palestinian police late Monday near the central Gaza strip town of Deir el-Balah after getting lost, but was later released unharmed.
His car, however, was torched by local residents angered over Israeli incursions on the edge of their town, witnesses said.
Elsewhere late Monday, there were exchanges of fire at the Erez border post at the north of the Gaza strip, Palestinian officials said.
(China Daily December 11, 2001)
