Israel closed to Palestinians after violence

Israeli-Palestinian violence escalated dangerously when Israel killed five militants in airstrikes and hinted Hamas political leaders could be their next target.

A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli woman, inviting a harsh response.

The woman was the first Israeli to die in a Palestinian rocket attack since November.

Even before the fatal salvo, Hamas leaders feared for their safety.

The precautions followed an Israeli airstrike late on Sunday on the home of Hamas politician Khalil al-Haya that killed eight people.

Israel denied al-Haya, who was not there at the time, was the target. But Israel’s leaders said they would employ more drastic measures to stop daily barrages of rocket fire into Israel.

Yesterday, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car carrying four Islamic Jihad men, killing all of them.

A spokesman for the group said they were targeted just after firing rockets into Israel.

Islamic Jihad, which has carried out hundreds of rocket attacks and suicide bombings in recent years, threatened “earthshaking” revenge.

Other airstrikes yesterday killed a Hamas militant and hit suspected weapons-storage facilities, the Israeli army said.

More than 40 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a decision last week to start hitting back for the rocket barrages.

Last night, Israel imposed a closure on Gaza and the West Bank, banning Palestinians from entering Israel except in humanitarian cases.

The military said the closure would be lifted tomorrow after a Jewish holiday, depending on the security situation.

The Israeli strikes have not slowed the rockets. A new barrage slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot early today, lightly injuring two residents, the army said.

Israel responded with two new airstrikes against buildings housing weapon depositories in central Gaza.

The Hamas military wing said it fired 23 rockets yesterday, including nine at Sderot.

At sundown yesterday, a Palestinian rocket hit a car and set it on fire in Sderot, about a mile from Gaza. The woman died en route to the hospital and two others were wounded in the attack. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

Deaths in rocket attacks often trigger a harsh Israeli response.

Yesterday’s salvo came during a meeting in Sderot between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief. They were not harmed.

At a news conference in Sderot, Solana denounced the violence, and Livni called for international action “to put pressure on the terrorists and the Palestinian government and not compromise with terror”.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited Sderot late yesterday for the second time in a week, his office said.

David Baker, an Olmert aide who was in Sderot during the rocket attack, said: “Israel is fully determined and fully prepared to take the necessary actions to bring the Qassam (rocket) attacks to an end.”

Angry Sderot residents demonstrated outside the building where Solana and Livni were meeting and later burned tyres, saying the Israeli government has failed to protect them.

Hamas pledged to “strike at the enemy anywhere in Palestine, whether with suicide attacks or operations against soldiers,” said the group’s military wing spokesman, Abu Obeida.

Since 2000, Hamas has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, killing more than 250 people.

The Israeli Security Cabinet decided on Sunday to step up measures against militants, prompting calls to target the Hamas political leadership.

“I say we have to put them all in the crosshairs,” Cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a retired army general, told Israel Radio.

Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin pointedly did not rule out the possibility.

“What was decided in the security meeting is that all terrorists, including those that plan attacks, call for attacks or carry out attacks, are not immune,” she said. “We cannot differentiate between those who call for attacks and those who carry out attacks.”

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was making efforts to restore the ceasefire that greatly reduced Israel-Palestinian violence in Gaza from November until last week, said aide to Abbas, Saeb Erekat.

He said Abbas was calling on international mediators to press Israel to halt its strikes and on Hamas to stop the rocket salvos.

In a statement, Abbas denounced the Israeli attacks but said he would work to restore calm.

However, Livni rejected a new ceasefire, charging that “Hamas takes advantage of them” to prepare for new attacks.

At a mass funeral yesterday for the Palestinians killed in the airstrike next to al-Haya’s house, Haniyeh said they were being targeted “because you are supporters of resistance in Palestine”. He called on his people to persist “until we achieve either victory or martyrdom”.

Later, Hamas leaders went at least partially underground, turning off their phones to avert detection by Israel, avoiding official vehicles and restricting their movements.