THREE ISRAELI SOLDIERS KILLED, 7 WOUNDED IN TERROR ATTACK
Arafat Ignores Pleas to End Terror and Violence

Jerusalem-----August 25.....Three Israeli soldiers were killed and 7 wounded in a terror attack on an IDF base in Gaza early this morning. Army radio reported that two Palestinians had entered into the IDF outpost in the Gaza Strip and killed a deputy battalion commander and two soldiers with automatic gunfire and hand grenades.

Soldiers killed one of the Palestinians, but the other managed to flee. Soldiers from the outpost quickly pursued the second gunman, located him and killed him, military sources said.

The army identified those killed as Maj. Gil Oz, 30, and St.-Sgt. Nir Kobi, 21. The name of the third soldier was not released, but the families of all the casualties have been notified, the army said. At least one of the seven soldiers was in serious condition, military sources said. The troops belonged to the Givati Brigade.

Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner stated: "This incident proves that the Palestinians have no intention whatever of respecting the cease-fire. This attack is particularly serious because they have penetrated an Israeli base... Israel will respond accordingly."

The Gaza Divisional commander Brig.-Gen. Israel Ziv is currently conducting an inquiry into the deadly ambush which took place around 3:30 am at the Marganit outpost on the southern perimeter of the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements.

The Damascus-based Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has taken responsibility for the attack. It said that its squad cut through the fence near the settlement of Gan Or and clashed with Israeli troops.

The Marxist DFLP led by Naef Hawatmeh has not participated in the lastest conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"There will be no situation in which they send terrorists or continue shooting ... and we will sit quietly and not respond," Israel's Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel TV on Friday.

Palestinian reports said that Palestinian security forces were quickly abandoning their positions across the Gaza Strip in fear of a retaliation by the IDF. Reports also said that the IDF has cut off a number of key roads in the Gaza Strip.

From an initial inquiry, the army said two gunmen sneaked into the outpost and one was said to have stood before the barracks of the soldiers firing bursts of automatic fire inside and tossing in a number of hand grenades.

The army said it believes that they fired about 40 bullets each. This is the stage at which one of the Israeli soldiers was killed and the seven wounded.

Two IDF forces quickly converged on the outpost and quickly engaged in a fierce firefight with the Palestinian gunmen. The gunmen
shot dead the officer and then a medic who ran to treat him, the army said. The soldiers shot dead the gunman who was near the
barracks. The second gunman fled toward nearby greenhouses and soldiers located and killed him after dawn around 7:00 am.

The IDF base was near Neve Dekalim in south Gaza, protecting the largest Jewish settlement in the coastal strip with about 3,500 Jewish families.

More than 150 Israelis, have been killed in terror attacks and violence since the PA began a campaign of incitement in September 2000.