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Palestinian Militants Defy Abbas, Kill 6 Israelis
Palestinian militants killed six Israelis in a bombing and shooting attack at the main commercial crossing into Gaza, mounting their strongest challenge yet to President-elect Mahmoud Abbas and his call for non-violence.Hours after the incident, there was still no comment from Abbas, while Israel signaled it would weigh its response to the operation carefully to avoid weakening a leader it has said it could do business with after years of shunning Yasser Arafat (news - web sites). Israeli Transport Minister Meir Sheetrit said on Israel Radio on Friday the terminal, a major lifeline for supplies to 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, would remain closed until further notice as a result of the attack. Abbas swept to power with an overwhelming victory in last Sunday's presidential poll in the West Bank and Gaza and will be sworn in on Saturday to replace Arafat, who died on Nov. 11. The new Palestinian leader has urged a cease-fire in more than four years of bloodshed to allow resumption of talks with Israel on peace and Palestinian statehood, a call rejected by militants he has said he planned to co-opt rather than confront. "The attack was a continuation of resistance," said Abu Abir of the Popular Resistance Committees, another of the three factions which issued a joint claim of responsibility. It called the operation a response to Israel's killing of a West Bank militant and other Palestinians in recent days. Hamas Islamic militants were also involved and said they had hoped to kidnap Israeli soldiers in order to swap them for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The Karni attack was the bloodiest incident in Gaza in more than a week and caused the highest number of Israeli deaths since a tunnel rigged with explosives blew up on Dec. 12, killing five soldiers. STRENGTHENING ABBAS "Israel must press ahead with...its own military moves in order to try to prevent the next attack," Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio. But she said: "We must try to strengthen Abu Mazen (Abbas) as a leader, assuming that that at some time or other he will be able take control of the terror organizations." In a statement, the Israeli army said that militants had planted a large explosive at a door separating the Israeli and Palestinian sides of the terminal, blasting a hole through which three gunmen infiltrated the Israeli side. "As a result of the explosion and during exchanges of fire which evolved at the scene, six Israeli civilians and three Palestinians were killed," the army said. Shortly after the blast, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a clinic in a Gaza refugee camp run by a charity allied with militants, injuring one passerby, the army and witnesses said. Israel's military commander in Gaza said the army's fight against militants, in the run-up to a planned Israeli withdrawal from the area later this year, was on-going. "Just last month, more than 40 terrorists were killed in dozens of operations in Gaza, most of them very selective attacks by our forces," Brigadier Aviv Kochavi told Army Radio. "The fighting will continue without announcing (this or that operation)." Posted by: tipper 2005-01-14 |
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