As night fell yesterday, Israeli attack helicopters carried out missile attacks on the headquarters of the various security arms of Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip.
The aerial assault was in retaliation for a powerful roadside bomb blast earlier in the day in Gaza, which killed two adults and injured 10 others, five of them children, travelling on a Jewish settler school bus.
Among the Palestinian security targets hit were the military headquarters of Mr Arafat's Fatah party and the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority's preventive security branch. The helicopters also targeted Palestinian TV relay stations. According to initial Palestinian reports, one person was killed and 25 people were injured in the attacks.
In the early morning bomb attack, shrapnel from a 120 mm mortar shell fitted with a detonator tore through the armour-plated school bus, killing Ms Miriam Amitai (35), a teacher and mother of four and Mr Gavriel Biton (34), a father of six. Some of the children injured had to have their arms or legs partially amputated. The bus was headed for Newe Dekalim, the largest settlement in the Gaza Strip, where 6,000 Jewish settlers live and which is home to one million Palestinians.
While three different, and previously unknown, Palestinian groups admitted responsibility, Israel immediately blamed Mr Arafat, saying the attackers - three Palestinians were seen fleeing the site of the bombing - were members of his Fatah party. The bombers, insisted Mr Danny Yatom, a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ehud Barak, "belong to the organisations under Mr Arafat's authority."
Palestinian leaders rejected Israel's allegations and said Mr Arafat had launched an investigation into the bombing. Referring to the helicopter attacks, senior Palestinian official Mr Saeb Arekat accused Israel of "state terror" and charged that Mr Barak was "taking Israel, us and the region down the drain."
The Palestinian leaders also renewed their call for international forces to be sent to the area to protect their people. After the bus bombing, Israeli forces essentially cut Gaza in two, blocking Palestinians from travelling between the northern and southern parts of the Strip. Mr Barak also decided to impose further economic sanctions, such as the blocking of fuel supplies to the Palestinian areas.