Palestinians stand in front of bombed Force 17 headquarters in Ramallah. (AP)

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	Israel Defense Forces

Israeli Air Force helicopters last night attacked five targets in Ramallah and the Gaza Strip connected with Force 17, Yasser Arafat's presidential guard unit. In an official statement, the Security Cabinet announced that the attack had been directed at "specific targets associated with terrorist elements (Force 17)" and were "carefully selected to avoid civilian injuries."

According to the IDF Spokesman, rockets were fired at:

	The Force 17 headquarters in Ramallah
	A Force 17 installation close to Jebalia in the Gaza strip
	A Force 17 weapons depot near the Ansar Camp, close to Gaza City
	A Presidential Guard training camp and Force 17 installation in the southern Gaza Strip.
	A Palestinian armored vehicle.

"The IDF will not allow the harming of Israeli

"The days of restraint are over." - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

civilians and soldiers and will use all means at its disposal in order to protect their safety and security," an IDF statement said.

Palestinian sources reported two killed and sixty injured in the attacks. Media sources reported electricity outages and streets crowded with anxious civilians. Palestinian officials immediately condemned the attacks as an unjustified Israeli aggression.

At an emergency Security Cabinet meeting yesterday, the government decided on "a protracted campaign against terrorism." Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, "The days of restraint are over."

The official Security Cabinet communiqué blamed the Palestinian Authority directly for "the current wave of attacks." It promised that the campaign would be directed at "terrorists, as well as against those who both dispatch and assist them." Measures would be taken to "ease the living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population," according to the statement.

Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, said the government's next moves would "depend on the reactions of the Palestinians."

Warning signal sent
"This definitely was to an extent a warning signal," Gissin said. "But it was also punitive action against Force 17, which we have ample evidence has been directly involved in terror."

The Israeli action came after a series of terror attacks in Israel that claimed the lives of three Israelis and injured more than 40. Political sources quoted in the media said the decision to strike at this time was based in part on the growing public pressure on Prime Minister Sharon to fulfill his campaign promise of providing security to Israeli citizens.

Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit told CNN that the actions were defensive in nature. "Israel has to… take care of the security of the people of Israel," he said.

U.S. State Department officials stopped short of condemning the Israeli helicopter attacks, but stressed there was no "military solution to the conflict." White House spokesman Ari Fleischer read a statement from President Bush that called "upon both sides to exercise maximum restraint to calm the situation and set the foundation for a return to negotiations."

Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres said that Israel has demonstrated a great deal of restraint "not because of an inability to respond, but rather in order to prevent escalation. But the murderous events of the last few days were soaked in blood and threats that were impossible to ignore."

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