Israel resumes assassination policy against militants

ISRAEL said yesterday it had resumed an assassination policy against some Palestinian militants and could mount air strikes to ensure its Gaza pull-out does not come under fire.

The Israeli threats, prompted by a flare-up of Islamic Jihad militant attacks on Jewish settlers in Gaza, underscored the deterioration of a four-month-old ceasefire and followed an acrimonious Israeli-Palestinian summit.

Israel shelved “targeted killings” of militants in February as part of a truce deal. But resurgent violence has raised the spectre of disruption to Israel’s planned August withdrawal from Gaza and dimmed hopes for “road map” peace talks afterwards.