Jerusalem - Israeli helicopter gunships attacked installations of the Palestinian security services in the Gaza Strip yesterday evening, Peter Hirschberg reports. The action was in retaliation for a Palestinian mortar attack on a Jewish settlement only hours earlier, in which a 10month-old Israeli boy was critically wounded.
An Israel army spokesman reported that three mortar shells had landed in the settlement of Atzmona, spraying shrapnel which hit the infant in the head and spine.
Israeli tanks shelled elite Palestinian Force 17 positions near the West Bank town of Ramallah late yesterday, witnesses said, following the air strikes on the Gaza Strip which left around 55 Palestinians injured..
The attack was on Force 17 positions at Beitunia south-west of Ramallah and and El-Bireh to the west, witnesses said.
