Israel on Thursday threatened tougher military action against militants in the occupied Gaza Strip should Palestinians continue to open fire against Jewish settlements and Israeli territory.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas voiced concern that the situation remains so sensitive that the smallest provocation could trigger large-scale clashes, while militant group Hamas reserved its ”right to avenge Israeli aggression”.
”We must act in a more aggressive manner than we have so far,” Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim told public radio.
”Until now, we have acted with moderation and restraint because we want to have calm in the run-up to the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but it is inconceivable to proceed with the evacuation under [Palestinian] fire.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to gather his top military officials to decide on Israel’s response to a succession of Palestinian mortar attacks aimed at Jewish settlements and claimed by the armed wing of Hamas.
Minister of Defence Shaul Mofaz has instructed the army to take steps to prevent attacks by targeting anyone responsible and making preparations should the situation escalate, army radio reported.
”This organisation is trying to do everything to gnaw away at the calm, and it is managing to do just that because of the weakness of the Palestinian Authority,” Mofaz said, referring to Hamas.
Yuval Steinitz, the hawkish chairperson of the parliamentary security and defence committee, called for a massive military operation in Gaza.
”Sharon must stop these cat-and-mouse games and declare an end to the ceasefire in the [Gaza] Strip,” he said.
Nevertheless, Sharon’s top adviser, Dov Weisglass, and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat agreed to work to ensure a de facto truce remains in place despite the renewed violence, senior Palestinian sources said.
Israel on Wednesday launched its first air strike since January against militants in the Gaza Strip who were preparing to fire mortars at a Jewish settlement, critically injuring a Hamas activist, who later died.
His death followed the killing of another Hamas militant in a shoot-out with Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza.
The violence threatened a fragile de facto truce that Palestinian militants have been observing since January and which was cemented by a landmark Middle East peace summit in February.
”If terrorism continues until the pull-out, we should repress it before going ahead with the withdrawal,” said Boim, hinting that the disengagement plan may have to be delayed if the violence continues.
Israel’s plans to evacuate all 8 000 Jewish settlers from the occupied territory this summer has been slammed by critics as rewarding militant attacks during the more-than-four-year Palestinian uprising.
But the Palestinian official tasked with preventing rocket attacks on Israeli settlements insisted he will not be forced into a direct confrontation with militant groups, which observers have said could spark a civil war.
”They gave their word, they should keep their word,” said General Jamal al-Qayed, expressing exasperation with Hamas’s failure to stick to the truce.
Faced with the renewed violence, Abbas warned in comments published in China that the situations is volatile.
”Currently, the situation is rather sensitive. Temporary quietness is very fragile, and a very tiny spark of fire could trigger large violent clashes,” he said in an interview with Xinhua news agency during a tour of Asia.
The upsurge in attacks also prompted the United Nations to express concern that confidence between both sides in the region is being undermined.
But Hamas said it reserves the right to respond to ”Israeli aggression” despite its commitment to the shaky truce.
”In the face of each aggression, there will be a reaction, there will be revenge,” spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said. — Sapa-AFP