IDF troops uncover tunnel near Erez crossing

Israel Defense Forces troops discovered a 35-meter tunnel adjacent to the Erez industrial zone in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, which IDF officials believe was used by the gunmen who shot and killed reservist Sergeant Major Amir Zimmerman, 25, close to the Erez crossing on Thursday morning. Soldiers found Palestinian police force uniforms in the tunnel, as well as excavation equipment.

The gunmen, who opened fire and threw grenades at a group of soldiers close to the Erez crossing on Thursday, were killed after an exchange of fire lasting several minutes. The IDF was also looking into the possibility that the two used a makeshift rope to climb into the compound.

An initial investigation into Thursday's attack indicates that the soldiers in the area acted in accordance with regulations prior to and during the attack, Israel Radio quoted a senior IDF officer as saying Friday.

According to the IDF investigation, the troops were combing the area due to an alert when they encountered the gunmen. One of the soldiers killed one gunman and the other gunman managed to kill the reserve soldier who stood nearby.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack in broadcasts from loudspeakers at mosques across the northern Strip.

The defense establishment is investigating how the gunmen reached the Erez crossing. Hezbollah TV station al-Manar reported that the gunmen arrived at the industrial zone through a tunnel. The IDF is also looking into the possibility that they climbed over the four-meter high wall of the compound using a rope made from weapons straps, two of which were found tied together near the bodies of the gunmen.

Zimmerman was laid to rest in the military section of the Kfar Monash cemetery at 1 P.M. on Friday.

The Erez terminal, a busy entry point for Palestinian laborers in the Gaza Strip who work in Israel, and the nearby industrial zone remained closed Friday morning after the attack there.

Beit Hanun mayor: damage bill from IDF raid over $1 millionBeit Hanun Mayor Ibrahim Hamid estimated on Saturday that the damage bill from an Israel Defense Forces demolition of some 120 Palestinian-owned shops, destroyed when the army uncovered a 60-meter tunnel used by gunmen who killed an IDF reservist along at the Erez crossing on Thursday, would come to more than $1 million.

Two army bulldozers backed by four tanks on Friday ploughed through the cluster of buildings which the IDF army said concealed the long tunnel used by Palestinian militants.

The stores leading up to Erez, a heavily fortified Israeli industrial zone on the Gaza-Israel border, sold mainly clothing, electronics and food and drink to Palestinian workers who made their way to their jobs in Israel through the crossing.

"We need urgent help for these people. They did not do anything," said Hamid.

The army spokesman said storeowners could file for compensation. But success for such suits by Palestinians accused by Israel of having abetted militants is almost unheard of.

"What a miserable situation. I didn't only lose my shop. I also lost $7,000 in goods," said Hamdan al-Muqaiyad, a shop owner who received summary notice to vacate the market lane leading up to Erez before military bulldozers ploughed in on Friday.

Police storm Temple Mount to disperse stone-throwersIsraeli police in riot gear stormed the square outside the al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, on Friday after Palestinians stoned worshippers at Judaism's Western Wall below, officials said.

The clashes at the shrine, often a flashpoint, followed a week of Palestinian protests in the West Bank against a barrier that Israel is building in and around occupied territory, which is now under World Court review.

Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said officers had tossed stun grenades after Muslim worshippers "started rioting" at the end of Friday prayers near the holy site that Muslims call al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews revere as the Temple Mount.

"Hundreds of Muslims threw rocks and rioted," he said. "Police entered the Temple Mount."

An ambulance driver said four Palestinian demonstrators had been injured but none seriously, and police said three officers were lightly hurt.

Police said stones had crashed onto the section of the Western Wall plaza where women pray, but no worshippers were injured. Witnesses said a policeman and a Palestinian had been slightly injured.

Qassam hits Gaza settlementPalestinians fired an anti-tank missile Friday morning at the Gaza Strip settlement of Neve Dekalim, damaging a house but causing no injuries.

Security forces said the missile was more advanced than a Qassam rocket.

"Suddenly there was a threatening noise and the whole kitchen filled with smoke and stones and dust and water from a pipe that burst," said the woman whose house was damaged in the attack.

In the Eida refugee camp in the West Bank, Israel Defense Forces troops Friday destroyed the houses of two Palestinian militants responsible for killing 13 people in the last three years, Israel Radio reported.

One of the houses belonged to Hamas activist Ibrahim Gandiyeh, who the IDF said planned a bus bombing in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood of Jerusalem that killed 12 people about two years ago and gave the terrorist the explosives belt used in the attack.

The other house belonged to Tanzim activist Hassan Abu Sa'ira, who the IDF said carried out a shooting attack on the tunnel road between Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion settlement bloc about two-and-a-half years ago, killing a military officer.

Also Friday, security forces arrested three Palestinians and found weapons in a village near the West Bank city of Hebron, Israel Radio reported. Overnight, the IDF arrested two wanted Hamas activists in the West Bank.

	An IDF soldier standing guard at the Erez crossing in Gaza on Thursday, after an Israeli was killed in a shooting attack. (Limor Edri)