Six die in Gaza attacks

Israel pounded Hamas targets with airstrikes today, killing six people and wounding dozens as it stepped into intense fighting between the Islamic militants and the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

The Israeli attacks followed Hamas rocket barrages on southern Israel.

The strikes made it harder for Hamas gunmen to move around, and prompted accusations – on Hamas websites, radio and TV – that Abbas-linked forces are in cahoots with Israel.

Hamas contemptuously called Fatah fighters the “Army of Lahad,” a reference to a Lebanese general allied with Israel in the past.

Israel unleashed the air campaign – a hit on a Hamas command centre, on a trailer housing bodyguards and two vehicles – after Gaza militants fired more than 50 rockets on the Israeli border town of Sderot in three days.

“Today in Israel, we have had enough. Israel will take every defensive measure to stop these rocket attacks. We will defend our citizens against the rockets, against the weapons, against the Iranian-backed Hamas who are attacking Israel,” said Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisen.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Israel showed “great restraint.”

At the White House, US President George Bush expressed concern about the violence.

“We strongly urge the parties to work toward a two-state solution,” he said.

Noting hardships caused by Israeli restrictions, Mr Bush mentioned “the deep humiliation that can come as a result of living in a land where you can’t move freely.”

The airstrikes came on the fifth day of internal violence that appeared to be crushing the Hamas-Fatah unity government, formed just two months ago, along with any hope of renewed peacemaking with Israel.