RAMALLAH, Feb 20: Israel attacked Palestinian towns across the West Bank and Gaza Strip from air, land and sea in fierce raids on Wednesday, killing 16 Palestinians and almost hitting Yasser Arafat’s office.

A deadly Palestinian raid which killed six Israeli soldiers on Tuesday night prompted the action by warplanes, warships and helicopter gunships on Palestinian security installations.

Signalling the depth of Israel’s embarrassment, a helicopter gunship rocketed an intelligence facility in Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. The rocket struck a few metres from where the Palestinian leader sat in his office.

It was the closest Israel has come to harming Arafat in a conflict which international mediation has failed to curb. The blast shattered windows near his desk but left him unhurt.

Arafat, under siege at his West Bank headquarters since early December, emerged defiant.

“The tanks and the missiles and the planes do not terrify us,” he said. “The Israelis insist on avoiding the peace process but we will raise the Palestinian flag on the walls of Jerusalem.”

The Ramallah helicopter strike, in which missiles were also fired at several Palestinian security targets, killed two Palestinians, including a cook preparing meals for security forces.

The attack followed a naval and air bombardment in Gaza City, which local hospitals said killed four people at Arafat’s headquarters there.

On the edge of Nablus in the West Bank, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in clashes, local officials said.

An F-16 warplane bombed a Palestinian police facility in Gaza and helicopters fired more than two dozen missiles at a security compound known as Ansar 2.

The army barred Palestinian travel between main West Bank cities and villages and arrested 20 suspects.

At least 877 Palestinians and 273 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began after peace talks froze.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, linked to Fatah, said its guerillas had attacked the army checkpoint near Ramallah to avenge a surge in Palestinian deaths. Hamas also claimed the raid, vowing revenge “until the liberation of all of Palestine”.

Twenty-eight Palestinians and 10 Israelis have been killed since Monday.

Most of the Palestinians killed on Wednesday were security personnel, but at least four were identified as civilians.—Reuters