Israel's prime minister cleared the way Wednesday to expand an
offensive against the Palestinians' governing Hamas movement aimed
at freeing an abducted soldier and ending rocket attacks from
Gaza.
In fresh violence, Hamas gunmen skirmished with Israeli forces
stationed near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, witnesses
said.
Militants said they fired at least two anti-tank rockets,
hitting an Israeli tank and a bulldozer. The Israeli army said it
was not aware of any anti-tank rocket fire. There were no immediate
reports of casualties.
Political sources said the Israeli army was discussing
establishing a buffer zone in northern Gaza to halt cross-border
rocket fire after the Hamas armed wing fired a missile into the
coastal city of Ashkelon for the first time on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said no decision had
been taken.
"Given the abduction and continued ballistic salvoes, including
the (rocket) launched at Ashkelon, the rules of the game in dealing
with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas must be changed," a
statement from Olmert's office said.
The statement said Olmert's security cabinet had approved
strikes against Hamas in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, focusing
on "institutions and infrastructure facilitating terrorism."
It also approved stepped-up attacks on rocket crews in Gaza.
Israel quit Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation, but
launched its offensive following the abduction of Corporal Gilad
Shalit by militant groups including the Hamas armed wing in a
cross-border raid from Gaza on June 25.
The army has already sent tanks and troops inside the northern
border but stopped short of a major push into towns. It entered the
south last week, establishing a static position in Gaza's disused
international airport.
Israel has also detained eight Hamas cabinet members and nearly
two dozen lawmakers in the West Bank.
Olmert has called Tuesday's missile strike on Ashkelon an
"escalation without precedent."
The upgraded rocket traveled 12 kilometers from Gaza. No one was
hurt but it was the first time a major Israeli city has been hit.
Previous rocket salvoes targeted small border towns.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli
army has reopened Erez crossing, allowing foreigners and
journalists to leave the Gaza Strip, but denying entry from Israel
into the strip.
There was also news that Israel has asked Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas to leave the Gaza Strip where he has been stuck since
the abduction of the Israeli soldier.
Three Palestinian militant groups, including governing Hamas'
armed wing, the Popular Resistance Committees and its offshoot the
Islamic Army, claimed responsibility for the abduction.
However, Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat has denied the
news and told Xinhua that Abbas is staying in Gaza and will stay
there until the end of the crisis.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, July 6, 2006)
