No Text YET!

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

Answers

From FOXNEWS...

JERUSALEM — Palestinians fired on an Israeli bus in the West Bank and set off an explosion near Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 20, paramedics and the Israeli army said.

The shooting attack took place after nightfall, at about 6 p.m., as the bus was on a winding uphill road approaching the Jewish settlement of Emmanuel in the West Bank, about 25 miles north of Jerusalem.

Israel TV's Channel Two said the armored bus came under attack from grenades, gunfire and an explosion. Nearby cars were damaged, and ambulances racing to the scene also came under fire, the report said.

Near the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, an explosion went off, wounding several people, the army said. Television reports said a suicide bomber blew himself up in the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack.

The violence came just a day after a senior U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, had called on Israelis and Palestinians to observe 48 hours of calm in order to restore trust.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

This is getting really bad. Seems the Israelis may as well just go in there and clean house. I wonder if they have any of our Daisy bombs...?

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

From FoxNews...

(Israel got back real quick this time. I think they've finally had enough)

Israel Retaliates After 10 Killed in Bus Ambush

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel retaliated quickly Wednesday after 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded in a terrorist ambush of an Israeli bus in the West Bank.

An Israeli F-16 bombed a Palestinian security installation hours after the bus attack and a simultaneous suicide bombing in the Gaza Strip.

As four fighter planes buzzed overhead, there was a large explosion at the security building just before 10 p.m., and white smoke filled the air.

Palestinian security workers ran from nearby buildings, filling the streets moments after the attack.

It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been injured.

Electricity in Gaza City had been cut off earlier to darken the area in anticipation of Israeli strikes. Witnesses also reported seeing Israeli warplanes in the skies over the West Bank.

The security building was near one of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compounds, but he was in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The streets nearby were chaotic after the attack, with people running from a market hundreds of yards away, where many had been shopping for the coming feast to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The airstrike came shortly after 10 people were killed and up to 30 were injured when Palestinians threw grenades and began shooting at an Israeli bus in the West Bank.

The shooting attack took place after nightfall, at about 6 p.m., as the unarmored bus was on a winding uphill road approaching the Jewish settlement of Emmanuel in the West Bank, about 25 miles north of Jerusalem.

At virtually the same time, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, wounding several people, Israeli army and TV reports said. The assailants jumped on a car leaving the Ganei Tal settlement and detonated the explosives, TV reports said. The passengers in the car escaped with minor injuries, but the assailants were killed.

In the West Bank attack, police said a roadside bomb exploded as the bus passed, causing casualties among the passengers. Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, said gunmen then opened fire from surrounding hills, both on the bus and on rescue crews that rushed to the scene in the darkness.

"There was a huge explosion in the back of the bus ... all the windows of the back of the bus were destroyed ... the bus continued slowly about 100 meters and people lay on the ground," said Isahal Otner, a passenger on the bus.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack.

"We are facing a campaign of terror," said Israeli Cabinet Minister Tsipi Livni, adding that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has done little to stop the attacks.

Violence had continued throughout the day, despite a U.S. peace envoy's call for 48 hours of calm. Israeli helicopter gunships attacked a Palestinian refugee camp Wednesday morning in response to mortar fire on nearby Jewish settlements. Four Palestinian militiamen were killed and 20 bystanders wounded in the airstrike.

The violence raised questions about the effectiveness of the U.S. mediation mission. Only a day earlier, the U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, had asked Israelis and Palestinians to observe two days of calm to help lower tensions and rebuild trust, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In truce talks Tuesday, Zinni requested that Israel refrain from targeted killings of suspected militants and from shelling Palestinian Authority targets, said a Palestinian security official. The Palestinians were asked to stop mortar fire and round up more suspected Islamic militants, the security official said.

Yarden Vatikay, an adviser to Israel's defense minister, denied that Zinni made specific demands of Israel. "His request of Israel was to act in a responsible fashion, but there was no demand to stop actions which are meant for self defense," Vatikay said.

Earlier Wednesday, five Israeli tanks drove into the center of the West Bank town of Jenin, triggering a firefight with hundreds of Palestinian activists. Fourteen Jenin residents were wounded by Israeli fire before the tanks left, doctors said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a statement that Israel was acting responsibly. He said Israeli troops would continue to respond to Palestinian mortar fire and to strike against militants suspected of planning attacks on Israelis. Last week, three Palestinian suicide bombers killed 26 people in Israel, the latest in a series of attacks by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.

Late Tuesday, Palestinians fired four mortar shells at Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. The mortar shells caused no damage or injuries.

In retaliation, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza overnight, killing four Palestinians and wounding 20, including four who were in serious condition, Palestinian doctors said.

The first air strike targeted a hiding place of members of a local militia, the so-called Abu Rish group, which has tentative links to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, camp residents said. Two of the militiamen were killed immediately and two more in another Israeli strike an hour later, witnesses said.

Israel's military said those targeted in the air strike had been involved in firing mortars at Israeli settlements. It said members of the Islamic militant group Hamas were also involved in the shelling. The Palestinian police chief in the Gaza Strip, Brig. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaida, accused Israel of attacking civilian areas.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001