Missile Attack Kills Two, Arafat agrees to cede power to PM
Pakistan Times Monitoring Report

GAZA CITY: Two Palestinians have been killed in a missile attack in Gaza City. One of the dead included a leader of the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, the radical movement said.

Witnesses say an Israeli helicopter fired a missile into a car cutting the vehicle in two in the Zeitun area of Gaza City.

The district is known as a stronghold of the actvists, who have been frequently targeted by Israeli forces. Palestinian medics said a third person was wounded.

On Tuesday, Israeli helicopters wounded two Palestinians in a missile strike on the home of a militant leader in the Shahti refugee camp outside Gaza City.

Israel has killed many senior militants as well as bystanders in missile strikes that it calls pre-emptive action against suicide bombers targeting Israelis in a Palestinian revolt launched in occupied territories in 2000.

Arafat agrees to cede power to PM

Meanwhile, under growing pressure, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had agreed to grant his prime minister full authority over the security forces, a lawmaker said on Thursday after meeting the Palestinian leader.

Imad Fallouji, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said: "Arafat expressed his readiness to give (the prime minister Ahmed Qorei) full authority to reshuffle his cabinet in the way that he sees fit and give the government full ... authority over the internal security services."

Arafat called on Qorei to make wide-ranging changes to his cabinet a day after deputies endorsed calls for a new government. A spokesman for the veteran leader told reporters Arafat wanted Qorei to continue in his post.

"President Arafat is maintaining his position and has asked Abu Alaa (Qorei) to return back and make deep changes to the cabinet in order to strengthen it," said Imad Falljui, a member of the Palestinian parliament. "President Arafat wants from Abu Alaa to do whatever he needs to form a new cabinet and has full authority according to the Basic Law."

Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants, including a leader of the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad late on Thursday in the Zeitun area of Gaza City, the movement said. An Israeli helicopter fired a rocket on the car in which the two were travelling, the Islamic Jihad said. The Israeli military said it was not aware of the incident.●