Attacks pose threat to fragile Mideast truce
The attacks punctuated a day of violence that left five people dead. A second militant was also killed in the gunbattle in the West Bank. Other attacks included Palestinian rocket and mortar barrages aimed at a series of Israeli targets and Israel’s killing of an unarmed man who infiltrated into Gaza from Egypt.
The clashes exacerbated tensions already inflamed by Monday’s confrontation at a disputed Jerusalem holy site. The Islamic Jihad and Hamas militant groups said they would stick to the truce, but blamed Israel for the violence. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom blamed Hamas. “Hamas is trying very hard to undermine our efforts to move toward peace with the Palestinian Authority,” he said. The Palestinians warned that the ceasefire was in jeopardy and urged international intervention.
