Car bomb in West Bank, Israeli air strikes in Gaza

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinians exploded a car
bomb in the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday, an Israeli
military spokeswoman said, and Israel launched air strikes and
artillery fire in northern Gaza,

The car bomb attack, which caused no injuries, took place
as an Israeli military patrol went by, the spokeswoman said.

The attack came amid rising violence since Wednesday when a
suicide bomber killed five Israelis in an open-air market.

Israel launched three air strikes and artillery fire
against rocket launching sites in northern Gaza on Saturday.
There were no reports of injuries from these air attacks.

Israel has killed nine Palestinians in Gaza in air strikes
since Thursday when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered
a broad offensive against Islamic Jihad, the militant group
that claimed responsibility for the bombing in Israel on
Wednesday.

Two other militant factions, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,
a wing of the ruling Fatah movement, and the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the
Nablus attack.

The Israeli spokeswoman said “Palestinians detonated a
vehicle loaded with explosives at an Israeli army force
patrolling in Nablus” causing no casualties but damaging the
vehicles.

Palestinian witnesses said the explosion went off as the
Israeli vehicles turned a corner, also smashing the windows of
some cars on the street but causing no injury.