Gaza bombing rocks ceasefire

Gaza’s fragile ceasefire was broken today when an Israeli soldier was killed by a bomb.

Israeli soldiers briefly crossed the border in search of the attackers, and defence minister Ehud Barak said the country “cannot accept” the attack, the first serious clash since a ceasefire was declared more than a week ago.

“We will respond, but there is no point in elaborating,” Barak said in comments released by his office.

Shortly afterwards Israeli planes struck in the south of the Gaza strip, injuring one member of Hamas.

The Israeli military said the bomb targeted an Israeli patrol near the border community of Kissufim.

Israel also closed its crossings into Gaza to humanitarian aid traffic after briefly opening them today in retaliation for the bombing.

Israel and Hamas have been holding their fire since Israel ended its offensive, which was aimed at halting rocket fire from the territory. Israel announced a unilateral cease-fire on January 17, and that was followed by a similar announcement from Hamas.

In the days immediately following the ceasefire there was shelling by Israeli gunboats and some gunfire along the border – including the killing of two men Palestinian officials identified as farmers – but there were no serious clashes until today.

Although there was no claim of responsibility, Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas leader, said Israel was to blame for continuing to fire into Gaza. Al-Masri said his group had not agreed to a full ceasefire but only to a “lull” in fighting.

“The Zionists are responsible for any aggression,” he said.

Egypt is currently trying to negotiate a longer-term arrangement to allow quiet in the coastal territory of 1.4 million people, which has been ruled by the Islamic militants of Hamas since June 2007.

Israel wants an end to Hamas rocket attacks and guarantees that Hamas will be prevented from smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt. Hamas has demanded that Israel and Egypt reopen Gaza’s border crossings, which have been largely closed since Hamas took power. The crossings are Gaza’s economic lifeline.

The Israeli offensive killed 1,285 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were also killed during the fighting.