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Sharon gives army free hand, Hamas militant killed

Posted on: Sunday, 17 July 2005, 09:27 CDT

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel, threatening a possible major offensive into Gaza, gave a free hand to security forces to stop Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes on Sunday and killed a Hamas militant commander.

Troops and tanks massed in preparation for a sweeping attack, but Israeli political sources said that looked unlikely ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to try to salvage a crumbling five-month-old ceasefire.

The worst surge in bloodshed since the truce was agreed has threatened to hamper Israel's withdrawal from Jewish settlements in occupied Gaza starting next month and amplified doubts over peacemaking prospects.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had instructed the army "to act without limitation to stop the strikes on Israeli communities" after rocket and mortar salvoes continued despite an appeal for calm by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In the southern Gaza Strip, a commander of the Hamas group behind much rocket fire was killed with a single bullet fired from a nearby settlement. Saeed Seyam's father said he had been going to water the garden. The army said it killed him as part of a revived assassination policy.

Troops also said they killed a gunman approaching a central Gaza settlement, but there was no Palestinian confirmation.

"Hamas will not stand handcuffed against the new crime," said spokesman Mushir Al-Masri.

Hamas said it fired mortars that hurt six Israelis in southern Gaza settlements in retaliation for the death of Seyam. Soon after, Palestinian witnesses said two people were injured by tank fire.

ISRAELI FORCES MASSED

Troops, tanks and armored vehicles have massed ready for an offensive into the Gaza Strip and discussion of when it could begin dominated Sharon's cabinet meeting. But political sources said Israel was likely to give Abbas more time to bring calm.

"There are signs that the situation could be defused," said one Israeli political source.

Egyptian officials arrived in Gaza to try to help shore up the truce and Rice is due in the region at the end of the week.

Washington wants to preserve the ceasefire and supports Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, seeing it as a possible springboard to renewed talks on its "road map" peace plan.

Israel has not launched a large-scale offensive into the Gaza Strip since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last year raised new hopes for Middle East peacemaking.

Abbas wants to avert Israeli army incursions into Gaza but has to tread carefully against Hamas, committed to destroying Israel. Gunbattles on Friday between Hamas and Palestinian police trying to stop rocket fire raised fears of civil war.

A Palestinian official voiced alarm at the threat of a Gaza offensive. "If carried out, it would have only disastrous results on the Gaza disengagement's prospects and on the peace process as a whole," senior negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters.

The death of the Hamas commander in Gaza brought to eight the number of the group's fighters killed in the upsurge.

Sharon, who ordered stepped up army action against militants after a suicide bombing and rocket attack killed six Israelis last week, has vowed not to quit Gaza under fire.

A similar scenario of attack, retaliation and revenge -- for which each side blames the other -- put paid to many previous peace efforts.

"Around and around we go. A trap that no one knows how to escape from," said Roni Shaked, commentator in Israel's best selling Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

Source: REUTERS

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