Israel attacks Palestinian target

Israeli helicopters have launched an air strike on a Palestinian factory where Israel said militants were manufacturing munitions, including mortar shells.

Israel claimed it scored an accurate hit on the facility east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, but Palestinian sources said the missiles hit an electric power plant, plunging the area into darkness.

The Israeli Army said the offensive was in retaliation for a mortar attack on the nearby Jewish settlement of Gadid last night.

Israeli tanks also shelled Palestinian police positions in the West Bank yesterday after a 17-year-old Israeli youth was killed in a roadside ambush.