Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Israeli-Palestinian confrontations continued to spiral out of control on Thursday as rockets slammed into the offices of Palestinian security headquarters in response to an earlier bomb blast that left two Romanian workers, employed by Israel dead and a third wounded.
The bloodshed comes amid Arab calls for a "day of rage" next Tuesday on the anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence, which Palestinians call the naqba - the catastrophe - and a visit by dovish Israeli politicians to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.
An Israeli military source confirmed that Israel had attacked Palestinian targets in Gaza City on Thursday.
"In response to the very severe attack this morning in which two civilians were killed, Israel attacked targets of the Tanzim and the General Security in Gaza City," an Israeli military source said by telephone.
Palestinian reports coming from the Gaza Strip said that two missiles had slammed into the Palestinian Intelligence headquarters compound in Gaza City, while another rocket hit the offices of PA chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah (Tanzim) faction.
Initial reports indicated that some 20 people were wounded in the attack, five of them seriously.
The attack marks the first time that Israel has targeted the Intelligence compound, which is about 400 yards from Arafat's offices.
Earlier in the day, two Romanian workers, employed by Israel, were killed and a third wounded in a bomb blast at a major crossing point into the Gaza Strip. The men were working to repair a frontier fence when the blast occurred.
During the last few years, Israel turned to the import of foreign laborers to replace Palestinian workers, who were often made unreliable due to Israeli security restrictions on their villages and towns.
A fierce gun battle raged between Israeli and Palestinian forces after Israel launched a retaliatory raid into PA-controlled areas in the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian reports, Israeli bulldozers and tanks destroyed two Palestinian police posts and three houses and uprooted trees.
The army said it had leveled a Palestinian police post and other structures, from which the Palestinians had hurled grenades and explosive devices at Israeli troops on Wednesday.
Naqba
The growing violence comes amidst calls by some 250 Arab clerics, politicians and activists for the Arab masses to take to the streets in a "day of rage" against Israeli and U.S. interests on May 15, the day according to the Gregorian calendar that marks Israel's 53rd independence day.
The Palestinians consider the creation of the State of Israel to be a "catastrophe" - the naqba and mark it as such every year.
In a statement, the Arab leaders called for Arabs to stage demonstrations, general strikes and sit-ins in order "to render the anniversary a day of confrontation with Israel and the US."
They called on Arab and Muslim leaders to back the Palestinian intifadah (uprising) with "money and weapons" and to cut all ties with Israel. They also blamed Arab media coverage for the low level support for the intifadah.
An Israeli military source expressed concern on Thursday over the call to violence, which he said was "obviously very serious."
"We're especially concerned that the Palestinian Authority is preparing people, preparing the general public to increase level of violence," he said in a telephone interview.
"It is a calculated strategic move to re-stoke the violence," the source said. "The Palestinians are really preparing for this day [especially] by what they're saying in their media," he added.
Israel has accused the PA of fomenting violence by inciting the Palestinian population through its state-run media and press.
Tensions flared this week after two Israeli teenagers were bludgeoned to death in a terrorist attack and a four-month-old Palestinian baby was killed by shrapnel from an Israeli shell fired in retaliation for a mortar attack.
Meanwhile, members of the opposition Meretz party in the Israeli government met with Arafat and Mohammed Dahlan, the head of the Palestinian security services on Thursday in the Gaza Strip.
Arafat said that he was ready to resume negotiations with Israel on any level.
"We must resume negotiations because we are all paying a high price," Arafat was quoted as saying. He said he was ready to resume negotiations based on the U.S.-sponsored Mitchell Commission's findings, presented last week to Israel and the PA.
Dahlan said he was ready for a ceasefire as long as Israel stopped expanding settlements.
The Israeli left supports the demand for a halt to all settlement expansion and has called on the government to stop any work as such.
However, the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, like those on the right and left before him, maintains that Israel will not build any new communities in disputed territories, but refuses to squelch the natural expansion of the settlements. Doing so at this point, the government says, would reward the PA for the last seven months of violence.