Mid-East violence spirals

Israeli police expecting trouble during Friday prayers

Palestinian doctors say at least 18 Palestinians have been injured by rubber bullets in the West Bank town of Ramallah in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops following Friday prayers.

Elsewhere heavy fighting broke out with Israeli helicopter gunships and naval gunboats attacking targets in the Gaza Strip.

They destroyed a police station and knocked out an electricity station, leaving hundreds of families without power.

The Israelis are reacting to a Palestinian attack on Thursday night in which mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip towards villages inside Israel.

A BBC correspondent in Jerusalem says Israel is clearly furious that such attacks have been carried out.

Tit-for-tat escalation

The Israeli internal security minister, Uzi Landau, said Israel should hit Palestinian targets "every day, hour after hour".

The price we will exact from the Palestinian Authority will become intolerable

Uzi Landau
Israeli Internal Security Minister

He described the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, as a war criminal and sharply criticised his cabinet colleague, Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, for renewing contact with the Palestinians in talks earlier this week.

He told Israel radio: "The price we will exact from the Palestinian Authority will become intolerable."

The killing of an Islamic Jihad leader has incensed Palestinians

Mr Peres met Palestinian Cabinet ministers Nabil Sha'ath and Saeb Erekat for US-sponsored talks on Wednesday, but the meeting appeared inconclusive.

The escalation in violence comes as security forces in Israel maintain a maximum state of alert for the Jewish Passover holiday week, which marks the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and ends on 14 April.

It follows the Israeli Government's announcement that it will expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank - in Maale Adumim near Jerusalem and in Alfei Menashe near Nablus - by 700 homes.

Provocation

In an unusual step, the United States has condemned the plans as provocative and inflammatory.

On Friday, France added its voice to the criticism.

A French foreign ministry spokesman, Francois Rivasseau, said a strategy based on the use of force and escalation of violence offered no solution.

"The Israeli government is now taking the wrong path", he said, criticising what he called the "provocative announcement of the resumption of settlement".

The violence started in September after Mr Sharon visited the disputed Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), in the Old City of Jerusalem.

On Thursday, Mr Sharon directed his security agencies to make arrangements for Jews to visit the site again.

Many rabbis ban Jews from entering the compound for reasons of ritual purity, but before the outbreak of violence, police allowed Jews to tour the site individually.

In its response, Mr Arafat's office warned that the order would "increase the cycle of violence in the region".