Israel escalates offensive against Palestinian militants

Israeli soldiers killed three militants during arrest raids in the West Bank early today as it pressed on with a major offensive against Palestinian militants, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel.

The raid came a day after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas travelled to Cairo to try to enlist Egypt’s help in trying to end the crisis and Palestinian officials said Abbas would travel to Washington to meet US President George Bush on October 20.

A meeting between Sharon and Abbas, tentatively set for Sunday, was postponed, apparently because of the flare-up.

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was trying to teach the militants it would not tolerate any more attacks from the Gaza Strip following its pullout from the area.

“It needs to be clear to them that we mean every word we say,” Mofaz said.

Early today, Israeli soldiers entered the West Bank town of Jenin and the nearby town of Burqin to carry out arrest raids on the sixth day of Israel’s offensive against the militants.

Soldiers in Burqin shot and killed two armed men – the targets of the arrest raid – who appeared about to fire on the force, the army said. Soldiers later found assault rifles and ammunition clips on their bodies, the army said.

Palestinians identified the men as Islamic Jihad militants Nidal Khlouf, 32, and Samar Shalaby, 24.

In Jenin, a militant fired at soldiers, who returned fire and killed him, the army said. Palestinians identified the man as Samar Asady, 30, an Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades militant.

The Israeli offensive was triggered by a rocket barrage launched by Gaza militants at Israel, including the border town of Sderot, over the weekend. Since then, militant groups said they would halt attacks and renewed their commitment to a seven-month-old truce, but Israel sid it would press ahead with the campaign.

“We will step up our operations and our response until they stop the rocket fire,” Mofaz said in an interview with Channel Two TV. “So long as there is no quiet in Sderot, there will be no quiet in Gaza.”

Early yesterday, Gaza militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli force inside Israel, the army said. No one was injured.

Mofaz said that since Israel pulled out of Gaza more than two weeks ago after 38-years of occupation, the nation would no longer tolerate any attacks from there.

“They have no right and no excuse to fire on us from Gaza. They need to know the rules of the game have changed,” he said.

The West Bank raids came after several nights of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Early yesterday, troops also fired live artillery shells into northern Gaza for the first time, hitting an open area the army said was used to fire rockets. The army had fired dummy shells in recent days, in part to help calibrate the artillery.

In a new phase of its offensive, Israel yesterday closed down 15 offices across the West Bank, including those of charities linked to local mosques. Israel said the offices were used to distribute money to the families of suicide bombers and militants jailed by Israel.