Israeli airstrike threatens to derail peace process

An Israeli aircraft today fired at a group of Hamas militants who were launching mortar shells at a Jewish settlement in the first such airstrike since a ceasefire was declared in February.

The Israeli strike, combined with an increase in militant attacks on Gaza settlements, presented the toughest test to date for the truce and threatened to derail efforts to restart peace moves.

There has been a sharp drop in fighting since the truce was declared by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, although there have been sporadic flare-ups in violence. Israel has repeatedly said it reserves the right to respond to attacks that Palestinian security forces fail to prevent.

“What do you expect us to do if they are attacking us?” said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon.

Today’s airstrike came minutes after militants fired four mortar shells at the Gush Katif settlement bloc. The army said it attacked two Palestinians who were preparing to fire more shells, and Palestinian witnesses said a group of militants had been lobbing mortars from the area. Hamas said one of its members was critically wounded while conducting a “holy mission.”

After the Israeli strike, Palestinians continued firing mortars, more than a dozen altogether, as well as two Qassam rockets, the military said. An Israeli was slightly wounded when a mortar shell exploded near the synagogue in the largest Gaza settlement, Neve Dekalim, witnesses said.

The mortar attacks were apparent retaliation for an incident early today, when Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian militant at the edge of the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. Residents identified the dead man as a Hamas member. Military officials said the Palestinians fired rifles and aimed anti-tank grenades at Israeli soldiers, who returned fire.

Such incidents have been rare since the ceasefire went into effect, and the two sides have stepped up co-operation on security matters. However, Israel has resisted calls to resume peace talks until the Palestinians take tougher action against militants.

Before today, Israel had not responded to a barrage of recent mortar and rocket attacks aimed at the settlements in recent weeks, prompting strong criticism from the residents, who said the government was leaving them defenceless.

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the airstrike was the latest in a “series of Israeli escalations,” and the group reserved the right to retaliate. However, he did not call off the ceasefire.

“The calm declared is a conditional one, and we have the right to respond to any violation,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the continuation of the calm, which still exists.”

Israel is preparing to withdraw from Gaza in August, uprooting all 21 settlements there, and says it wants to avoid clashes with the Palestinians during the evacuation. At the same time, Israel has pledged harsh retaliation if settlers or troops are attacked during the operation.

Israel is also bracing for the possibility of violence from the settlers, who strongly oppose the pullout. Earlier this week, police arrested more than 300 protesters who blocked dozens of highways, tying up traffic throughout the country.

Vice Premier Shimon Peres today warned that police will take harsher action if demonstrations continue, using riot control gear such as water cannons.

“The police are trying to do things as gently as possible. If there will be an escalation in protests, I believe there will be an escalation in the response,” Peres told Israel Radio.

Protesters have said they would not be deterred by arrests and jail time.

Today, the Settler Rabbis Council issued a statement encouraging the demonstrators in what they called a “holy war.”

“We give our support the thousands of protesters and hundreds of detainees who took part in the non-violent protests against the expulsion decrees and destruction,” the statement said.

The government has been pressuring Gaza settlers to accept a plan to move them en masse to a coastal area in southern Israel. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni gave settlers seven days to accept the offer, saying that planners need time to get organised.

“We are saying, in all fairness, that someone who joins at the last minute will not get the same things that we can give those who join today,” she said at a news conference.

Avner Shimoni, a Gaza settler leader, condemned the ultimatum.

“What are they giving us, what are they offering us?” he told Israel Radio. “We’ll just stay in Gush Katif.”

Though militant settler leaders are trying to present a united front against the pull-out, promising strong non-violent resistance, a major crack in the façade appeared yesterday when a settler official said that about one-quarter of the 1,600 Gaza settler families have signed up for the offer.

In other developments, the Palestinian legislature approved a new electoral law today, but Abbas is expected to veto the legislation, and the conflict raised new doubts about whether a parliament election set for July 17 will be held on time.

Abbas and his Fatah movement, which controls parliament, are wrangling over the method by which the new legislature will be chosen. Abbas wants all lawmakers to be chosen from party slates. However, under the new electoral law passed today, two-thirds of the legislators would be chosen in district voting.

District voting would increase the electoral chances of the current legislators. Abbas has argued that a vote according to party lists would increase the prospects of his Fatah movement to hold off a challenge by the increasingly popular Hamas.