GAZA CITY (voa) – Israeli forces have fired two missiles into a Palestinian security building in the Gaza Strip as efforts continue to arrange high-level truce talks.
The missiles Wednesday struck the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s elite security unit, Force 17, in Beit Hanoun, northeast of Gaza City, and wounded one member of the force.
The Israeli army said the strike was retaliation for Palestinian mortar fire on Jewish settlements in Gaza, that caused no casualties.
In another development, Israel says its security forces arrested four Israeli Arabs in connection with a bomb attack in northern Israel last month that caused no injuries. Three of those arrested are reported to be teenagers.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said a meeting between Mr. Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres might take place in the region next week. An adviser to Mr. Arafat said the talks need to be properly prepared to avoid failure.
Mr. Peres says he would like the meeting to take place in an isolated area, away from journalists.
The meeting has been talked about for several weeks amid ongoing violence. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he made significant progress to set up such a meeting. He returned Wednesday to Brussels from three days of talks in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who has also been traveling in the region this week, says the Mideast situation is getting worse. Declaring “enough is enough,” the Saudi prince urged the United States to intervene and restrain Israel from what he called its aggression against the Palestinians.
The Saudi foreign minister made those comments Wednesday in Jordan after a whirlwind tour that also took him to Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
