Middle East truce endangered by violence
The flare-up in violence in the Gaza Strip could delay Israel’s planned withdrawal from the crowded coastal area if Israel is forced to launch a new military campaign against Palestinian militants, a senior Israeli official warned today.
Palestinians fired three more mortars and a rocket at Jewish settlements in Gaza and at nearby Israeli communities today, the army said, a day after militants launched a massive mortar barrage and Israeli forces killed two Hamas militants, endangering a four-month truce.
Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz met today with the chief of staff and army generals to formulate a response to the violence, defence officials said. Their recommendations would be presented later in the day to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Officials said if militants keep firing mortars, Israel will target them in missile strikes.
Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio that “from now on we need to respond with more aggression, more than we have until now”.
Boim warned the violence could delay Israel’s planned withdrawal from all 21 Gaza settlements and four more in the West Bank this summer.
“If there is a situation where the Palestinians will use terror against Israel during the evacuation period, then I don’t see us carrying out the evacuation,” Boim said.
“First we will have to deal with the terror, and only then carry out the (withdrawal),” he said.
Before the February 8 truce, Israel frequently sent tanks, troops and helicopters into Gaza to hunt down militants.
While Sharon has vowed the withdrawal would not take place under fire, Mofaz has promised there would be no further delays in carrying out the plan. The pull-back has already been delayed from July to mid-August, following a Jewish period of mourning.
Supporters of the plan warn further delays could scuttle the withdrawal.
Flare-ups like Wednesday’s have been rare since the truce, a key element of international efforts to restart peace talks frozen through four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence.
More than 30 mortar shells and homemade Qassam rockets exploded on Wednesday, most in Jewish settlements, and two rockets fell near Israeli communities just outside Gaza.
One Israeli was slightly wounded when a shell landed near the synagogue in Neve Dekalim, the largest settlement in southern Gaza.
The Palestinian fire was apparent retaliation for the killing of a Hamas militant by Israelis early on Wednesday.
After the first salvo, Israeli helicopters flew into Palestinian territory and fired a missile, with the army saying the target was “a terrorist cell about to launch further mortars”.
Two Palestinians were wounded, and one later died in a Gaza hospital. Despite the Israeli missile attack, the mortar and rocket fire intensified. A Hamas official said his group claimed the right to respond but added that in principle, the ceasefire would continue.
Israeli official David Baker said Israel contacted Palestinian officials and demanded that they halt the barrages.
On Wednesday night, a small number of Palestinian police in military uniforms went into the Khan Younis refugee camp across from the Jewish settlements to try to stop the barrages, but they were set upon by crowds of civilians and militants throwing rocks and punches. Some gunfire was heard.
The Palestinian Interior Ministry charged that Hamas militants used civilians as shields, and eight officers were hurt by rocks. “This cannot be accepted and this serious violation will not pass (unanswered),” a ministry statement said.
So far the truce has survived a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in February and a barrage of more than 90 rockets and mortars at Gaza settlements on a single day in April after Israeli troops killed three teenagers.
