Ceasefire over, warns Islamic Jihad leader
“There is no talk of a truce, there is only room for talk of war,” Mohammed al-Hindi said. Al-Hindi is the group’s top leader in its Gaza stronghold and the West Bank, though its formal HQ is in Syria.
Although the seven- month-old ceasefire has brought a sharp drop in violence, Islamic Jihad has carried out a number of attacks since then, including three suicide bombings in Israel. The group has said its attacks were in response to perceived truce violations by Israel.
The attack hit a Mercedes carrying Khalil. Atef Qatrous, 22, said he was leaving work when he saw a missile hit the car, which had two people inside. One of those inside was decapitated, and the other was badly wounded, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned all means would be used to end attacks on Israel. Security officials said the military was preparing for possible artillery attacks and a ground invasion unless the Palestinian Authority or Hamas itself halts the rocket attacks.
The army fired several artillery rounds into empty fields in northern Gaza in preparation for a possible attack, the military said.
The new offensive, dubbed Operation First Rain, dashed hopes that Israel’s recently completed Gaza withdrawal would help restart peace talks. The fighting also turned up already intense pressure on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to confront militants, and weakened Mr Sharon as he parries a challenge to his leadership.
A group of senior Israeli cabinet officials, led by Mr Sharon, approved the military operation at an emergency meeting late on Saturday after Hamas militants fired nearly 40 rockets from Gaza at southern Israeli towns.
The rocket barrage, which injured six Israelis, was the Islamic group’s first major attack since Israel concluded its Gaza pullout two weeks’ ago.
In a further sign the truce was unravelling, the military arrested 207 wanted Palestinian men in the West Bank overnight, most of them members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
Among those arrested were Hassan Yousef and Mohammed Ghazal, two of the most prominent Hamas leaders in the West Bank, Hamas officials said.
The air strikes yesterday morning hit targets throughout Gaza, including three weapons’ facilities and a Gaza City school that the military said Hamas used to raise funds for attacks, recruit militants and assist families of suicide bombers.
Nineteen people were slightly wounded in the attacks, and facilities were heavily damaged.
Israeli military officials said the attacks were aimed at any group possessing weapons, and other small groups were targeted. But the offensive was focused on Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant organisation.
The chain of events began Friday afternoon, with an explosion at a Hamas rally in Gaza’s crowded Jebaliya refugee camp, that killed 20 Palestinians, four of them 16 years old and under.
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