HIGHLIGHTS: Attack Eclipses Arafat's Security Shake up||Conflicting U.S.-Israeli Assessments About Perpetrators of the Attack|| Israel Assassinates two Aqsa Brigade Resistance Leaders|| STORY: Yasser Arafat staged an unprecedented shakeup of his inner circle but the Palestinian upheaval was eclipsed by a shooting spree at an Israeli airline ticketing desk in Los Angeles in which three people were killed. (Read photo caption)

Israel immediately said the assault by a lone gunman at Los Angeles airport on Thursday appeared to be a "terrorist attack" and vowed to hunt down those behind it, but U.S. officials said they had no indication it was anything but an isolated incident.

The incident came amid heightened security around the United States as Americans, nervous after a string of government warnings about possible future acts of terror, celebrated their first Independence Day holiday since the September 11 attacks.

El Al, Israel's national airline probably has the toughest security precautions of any airline, developed in response to a series of attacks by Arab and Islamic militants on its operations during the 1960s and early 1970s.

El Al said its measures had prevented a "great tragedy" in Los Angeles and it had no plans to alter its operations.

GAZA EXPLOSION

Violence also flared in the Gaza Strip, where a car bomb killed two suspected militants of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement.

The Gaza City blast left body parts scattered around a burned, mangled, white Mercedes.

A local mosque began mourning Jihad Amerin, 38, the Gaza leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militia affiliated with Arafat's Fatah organization. Authorities have not confirmed his death.

Palestinian security and hospital officials identified the only other person killed in the car blast as Nael Namera, 27, from Gaza, a lieutenant in the Palestinians' security forces.

Amerin was a former police officer, but quit about nine months ago and went underground, rejecting Arafat's cease-fire calls.
The loudspeaker of the mosque carried a vow of revenge for his death from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: "Our revenge will come like an earthquake for the Zionists' dirty crime."

A Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police suspect Israeli agents planted the explosive.

The Israeli occupation army declined comment. Israel has an internationally condemned policy of killing Palestinian militants it blames for attacks on Israeli civilians in a 21-month-old uprising.

SECURITY SHAKE UP

Earlier on Thursday, Arafat -- under intense U.S. pressure for reform -- reshuffled the hierarchy of his much-criticized security apparatus by formally dismissing his powerful West Bank security commander and the Palestinian police chief.

A senior Palestinian official said Jibril Rajoub, powerful head of the Palestinian Preventive Service in the West Bank and once considered a potential successor to the 73-year-old Arafat, was served dismissal papers by the president on Thursday.

Arafat shunted Rajoub to Jenin as governor of the northern West Bank city and appointed the incumbent there, Zuhair Manasra, as the new West Bank security commander.

Palestinian officials said Arafat also ordered the replacement of police chief Ghazi al-Jabali. A senior security source had said he resigned and would challenge Arafat for the presidency in elections six months away.

But other Palestinian officials said Jabali was just trying to save face when it became clear he was being dismissed. His electoral chances against Arafat, a longtime symbol of Palestinian nationalism, looked dim.

Confusion over Rajoub's status had swirled after he denied strong rumors he had been sacked but said he would step down if so ordered in writing by Arafat.

Mahmoud Abu Marzuk, the head of Palestinian civil defence, was also sacked on Tuesday.

PHOTO CAPTION

(Top) Los Angeles Police close the sidewalk to travelers at the Los Angeles International Airport, Thursday, July 4, 2002, after a shooting at the Tom Bradley International terminal. A gunman opened fire Thursday at Israel's El Al airlines ticket counter, killing two people before an airline security guard shot him dead, authorities said. (AP Photo /Damian Dovarganes)
(Bottom) A Palestinian rescue police officer collects body parts near the wreckage of a white Mercedes, which exploded in Gaza City, Thursday July 4, 2002, killing at least two people, a Palestinian police official said. One of the men killed was identified as Wael Namera, 27, from Gaza, a lieutenant in the Palestinians' preventive security forces, according to police and hospital officials. The other was not immediately identified. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
- Jul 04 5:04 PM ET