Army post attack poses setback for Mideast peace
The shooting, a possible setback to a US-backed peace plan, came just hours after Palestinian militant groups affirmed they would not halt attacks on Israelis.
After the killings, Israel quickly demanded Palestinian officials crack down on militants.
Three armed groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade claimed joint responsibility for the shooting. A leaflet gave the names of the gunmen, all in their early 20s, one from each group.
"This joint operation was committed to confirm our people's united choice of holy war and resistance until the end of occupation over our land and holy places," the leaflet said.
The attack is a blow to efforts by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to persuade militants to halt attacks on Israelis his strategy for bringing a halt to violence as required under the US-backed "road map" for peace.
Hamas pulled out of truce negotiations last week, and the Al Aqsa militia's participation in the shooting poses a direct challenge to Mr Abbas, since the group is linked to his ruling Fatah movement.
The gunmen, who wore Israeli army uniforms and were armed with assault rifles and grenades, attacked the post near Gaza's Erez crossing into Israel just after dawn, the Israeli military said.
Major General Doron Almog, head of the army's southern command, told Israel Radio the attackers arrived by surprise at the northern edge of the post, and killed the four soldiers, three of them at close range.
Four other soldiers were wounded. Israel demanded Abbas immediately begin arresting militants, dismantling their organisations and disarming Palestinians.
"If terrorism will continue, it will destroy the road map, it will destroy the peace process," Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said.
Mr Abbas said he would resist pressure to crack down on the militants and would continue efforts to talk with them.
"We will not allow anybody to drag us into a civil war," Mr Abbas said yesterday.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Israel provoked the attacks by continuing restrictions on Palestinians and killing two Hamas militants last Thursday night near the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
"This requires an immediate discussion with the Palestinian factions to bring an end to the fighting and there is an effort from all sides to make sure that this happens," Mr Shaath said.
The shooting underscored the determination of militants to derail the road map to Mideast peace, which envisions a Palestinian state by 2005.
Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, said the attack was intended to send a message to the Palestinian leadership that Palestinians will continue to fight Israel and will not "surrender to the pressure exerted by Israel and the United States of America."
"We are unified in the trenches of resistance," he said.
A videotape shows the three attackers wearing army uniforms and sitting in front of the three flags of their militant groups.
Three copies of the Koran, two rifles and several hand grenades lay on a table in front of them.
The attack came hours after an armed Palestinian tried to attack a Jewish settlement in Gaza, according to Palestinian and military sources.
Israeli troops killed the man, who was armed with an assault rifle and a pouch of grenades, after he fired at them Saturday night from a house in the central Gaza Strip, military sources said.
In a statement, the radical Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack and said the man had been trying to infiltrate a nearby Jewish settlement.
The three-stage peace plan was formally launched at last week's Mideast summit in Jordan, with US President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mr Abbas attending.
Mr Sharon was set to defend his support of the plan at a meeting of his hawkish Likud party yesterday night.
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