GAZA, Jan 25: Israeli F-16 fighter planes launched strikes on Palestinian security targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Friday night, hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber in Tel Aviv wounded at least 25 people.

Palestinian medical officials said at least two people were wounded after two missiles slammed into a facility housing military vehicles in Yasser Arafat’s security complex in Gaza City.

The Palestinian leader was at the time in Ramallah, where he has been confined by Israel to his tank-encircled headquarters since last month.

Witnesses saw huge plumes of smoke over the West Bank city of Tulkarm after a building belonging to the national security forces and another used by the intelligence service were hit by two missiles.

The new cycle of retribution plunged Israel and the Palestinians deeper into violence that has defied US-led truce efforts. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Tel Aviv attack, for which Israel said Arafat bore ultimate responsibility.

The Palestinian Authority said in a statement after the attack that it condemned “any action that harms Israeli civilians”.

The bomb in a Tel Aviv pedestrian mall followed an Israeli helicopter missile strike that killed a member of the Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.—Reuters