Israel intensify operations in Gaza
At the first Cabinet meeting since 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in three separate incidents in Gaza last week, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and military chief Lt Gen Moshe Yaalon pledged to crack down on militant groups, according to officials in the meeting.
Last week's bloodshed in Gaza which also included the deaths of 32 Palestinians has strengthened calls in Israel for a pullout from the volatile coastal area. Gaza is home to some 7,500 Jewish settlers who live amid 1.3 million Palestinians.
More than 100,000 Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, calling on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to implement his plan to withdraw from Gaza and four West Bank settlements and to resume peace talks. It was one of the largest demonstrations by the Israeli "peace camp" in years.
Mr Sharon's hard-line Likud Party a tiny fraction of the overall population rejected the Gaza pullout plan in a referendum May 2.
Organisers of Saturday night's rally said the demonstration was in response to the Likud vote, noting that a solid majority of the public favours Mr Sharon's plan. Mr Sharon, suddenly at odds with members of his own party, has pledged to revise the plan.
Officials in his office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said yesterday the rally could help his efforts. They said Mr Sharon plans to ask his Cabinet in two weeks to approve a virtually unchanged "disengagement plan."
The soldiers' deaths in Gaza two were shot dead while searching for the remains of their comrades have caused a public outcry in Israel.
Mr Mofaz pledged yesterday to step up military activity in Gaza, noting that Israel had carried out a number of airstrikes on militant targets in recent days.
"We started continuous airstrikes. We will deepen the fighting," he said, according to participants in the meeting.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles at targets in Gaza City early yesterday, knocking out power for about 40,000 people and causing widespread panic.
The strikes targeted a Hamas office and the office of a group affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction. Power was restored hours later.
Mr Mofaz also promised a "different reality" along the Gaza-Egypt border to halt arms smuggling through underground tunnels.
Last week, the army demolished 88 homes, leaving more than 1,000 Palestinians homeless, after Palestinian snipers killed two Israeli soldiers, according to the United Nations.
Israel said gunmen had used the homes for cover. Israel's Supreme Court yesterday appeared to clear the way for more demolitions in the area, rejecting a petition to prevent the razing of 13 houses there. The three judges ruled the army had a "real, imminent need" that justified the demolitions.
The ruling said more homes could be destroyed in the future if they are part of a military operation and gunmen are using the buildings as cover to shoot at soldiers.
Top UN and EU officials last week condemned the demolitions. US Secretary of State Colin Powell also voiced opposition to the practice.
"We know Israel has a right for self-defence, but the kind of actions that they're taking in Rafah with the destruction of Palestinian homes we oppose," Mr Powell said at a gathering in Jordan.
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