Israel strikes as Sharon boosts settlements

An unusual Israeli attack next to a house in Gaza City killed five people, witnesses and hospital officials said, just hours before prime minister Ariel Sharon faced a crucial party test linked to his plan to pull Israeli forces and settlers out of Gaza.

Gaza hospital officials said seven people were wounded, two critically, in the attack early today in the Shajaiyeh neighbourhood of Gaza City, a stronghold of Islamic militants.

Hospital officials said that two of the dead were Hamas militants and another was with Islamic Jihad.

The others were not immediately identified.

Residents said several men were in an olive grove next to the building at the time of the explosion.

The Israeli military said it was an air force attack aimed at a Hamas militant.

However, witnesses said there was no Israeli helicopter in the area at the time and no sign of a missile strike – the common form of Israeli air attacks against militants.

Instead, an unmanned Israeli aircraft was hovering overhead, and witnesses believe it triggered an explosive device by remote control. Palestinians said this has happened once before. The military would not give further details about the attack.

The air strike came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the construction of 1,000 new housing units in four large West Bank Jewish settlements, possibly with an eye on the convention of his rebellious Likud Party on today.

Though the construction would violate the US-backed ”road map” peace plan, US reaction was muted compared to earlier statements denouncing settlement building.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said: “Our concern is to determine whether these tenders are consistent with Israel’s commitments” to stop construction.

The text of the “road map” is clear: Israel “freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)”.

However, the Israelis note that Bush acknowledged that even in a peace arrangement, Israel would not be expected to give up main settlement blocs in the West Bank.

The settlement issue loomed large today, when the central committee of Sharon’s Likud Party was to meet to vote on whether the dovish Labour Party could enter the ruling coalition.

Many hawkish Likud members, opposed to Sharon’s plan to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank by late next year, are against letting Labour in, because it would cement a firm cabinet majority in favour of the pullout.

A new settlement construction plan could placate some of Sharon’s party critics, but it would also rekindle moderates’ suspicions of Sharon’s real motives.

Sharon lost his parliamentary majority over his ”unilateral disengagement” plan because of objections from pro-settlement coalition partners.

Also, Likud members voted against the plan by a wide margin in a non-bonding referendum, but Sharon chose to ignore it.

Analysts say if today’s convention votes against Sharon, it could hamstring the 76-year-old ex-soldier and veteran of decades of political infighting, forcing him to call elections.

However, the convention vote, like the referendum, would not be legally binding.

Labour favours an Israeli exit from most of the West Bank and all of Gaza. In contrast to Sharon’s rebellious party members, Labour feels the plan does not go far enough and suspects that Sharon, a settlement promoter for decades, does not intend to implement it.

Talks between the two parties have stalled over economic issues. A Labour Party leader said rescinding the new construction plan should be a precondition for his party’s continuing coalition talks, the Haaretz daily reported yesterday.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called Sharon yesterday to discuss the pullout plan, Sharon’s office said. Sharon pledged to carry out the plan. Egypt has been working for a smooth transition of power after the Israeli pullout.

In the West Bank city of Nablus yesterday, soldiers shot and killed a nine-year-old boy, Palestinians said. The area was under Israeli curfew. The military said soldiers opened fire three times in Nablus yesterday but did not know of any deaths.

Also, the military said soldiers found a workshop in Nablus where Palestinians were making rockets. Up to now, militants have fired home-made rockets only from Gaza.