A fresh wave of violence killed at least five Palestinians and a Chinese worker yesterday and threatened a four-month cease-fire between Palestinians and Israel. "The situation is deteriorating. The whole cease-fire may collapse," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, calling for international intervention.Three Palestinians, including a district leader of Islamic Jihad, were gunned down during Israeli operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A Chinese and a Palestinian worker died in a subsequent Palestinian revenge attack on a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip. Separately, a Palestinian was killed before dawn by Israeli troops while crossing the Rafah border. The Palestinian leadership accused Israel of jeopardizing the relative calm by gunning down the Jihad chief, while Israeli officials warned they would decide "when and how to respond" to the Palestinian reprisals.
Mraweh Khaled Kamil, a chief of Islamic Jihad's armed wing in the Jenin area, was killed during the Israeli operation in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya as he hunkered down with others. A 23-year-old civilian was also killed and nine other Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were injured. "The truce is in peril and this killing will not go unpunished. Our patience is running out," said Khader Adnan, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, after Kamil was pronounced dead. Within hours the faction took its revenge. It claimed a blast at greenhouses in the Jewish settlement of Ganei Tal, which the military said killed a Chinese and a Palestinian worker and wounded six other Palestinians.
Hamas claimed the attack to "answer the Israelis trying to enter Al-Aqsa" - referring to Israelis who on Monday toured Jerusalem's disputed mosque compound. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei blamed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the latest bout of violence. This "shows the policy of targeted killings has resumed and that is a threat to the current calm and Palestinian efforts to preserve it," he said.