• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Israel kills Palestinian militant in Gaza strike

Posted on: Friday, 28 October 2005, 12:37 CDT

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed a Palestinian militant in an air strike in Gaza on Friday, after vowing it would not stop its hunt for gunmen despite a U.S. call to renew contacts with the Palestinians.

The missile landed near two cars in north Gaza that carried militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, and from Islamic Jihad, which killed five Israelis in a suicide bombing on Wednesday.

The Israeli army said it had been targeting militants who were en route to a rocket launch pad near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

Israel has stepped up such attacks since Wednesday's suicide bombing, the first after it completed its pullout from Gaza on September 12. An Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza on Thursday killed eight Palestinians, mostly militants.

Palestinian medics said the attack near Beit Hanoun destroyed the two vehicles and killed an al-Aqsa militant, while the rest of the men seemed to have escaped unharmed.

An al-Aqsa spokesman said militants from his group had fired a rocket into Israel shortly before the strike.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom earlier signaled that Thursday's air raid would not be Israel's last reprisal for the suicide bombing in the Israeli city of Hadera.

The United States strongly urged the Palestinians to rein in militants after this week's suicide bombing but also appealed to Israel for caution and encouraged a resumption of talks with Abbas that have been put on hold.

"The message cannot be one of silence and restraint after such a terrible attack," Shalom told Israel Radio when asked about the U.S. entreaty. "The terror organizations must know that we will continue to hunt them everywhere, all the time."

QUARTET URGES RESTRAINT

Washington appears increasingly concerned about the latest blows to an eight-month-old ceasefire. Palestinian militants have said they would abide by the truce until the end of the year but would respond to any Israeli attacks.

The United States and other international mediators called on Israelis and Palestinians on Friday to show restraint and not let violence undermine the quest for peace in the region.

The quartet of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations "denounces all acts of terrorism and urges all parties to exercise restraint, avoid an escalation of violence and keep the channels of communication open," the group said after conferring by telephone.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted by the daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying Abbas was "not delivering the goods" as a peace partner and voicing doubts about a peace deal in this generation.

The Palestinians said the main obstacle was Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered a broad offensive against Islamic Jihad, which said it carried out the Hadera bombing to avenge Israel's killing of one of its top West Bank commander on Monday.

Sharon has ruled out new talks with Abbas, who condemned Wednesday's bombing, until he took "serious action" against armed groups.

Late on Thursday, a missile blew apart a car carrying Islamic Jihad commander Shadi Mhanna, who had overseen the group's cross-border rocket fire into Israel, and three comrades in a Gaza refugee camp. Four bystanders also died.

The Palestinian Interior Ministry accused Israel of carrying out "terror acts that will not help in restoring security."

Islamic Jihad, dedicated to Israel's destruction, vowed revenge. Its initial response was the firing of a makeshift rocket into Israel, causing no damage or casualties.

About 20,000 mourners marched in funerals in Gaza chanting "Death to Israel" and echoing the Iranian president's comments earlier this week that the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map," a call that has stirred international condemnation.

Abbas has opted to try to persuade militants to adhere to a truce he declared with Sharon in February rather than try to disarm them by force, which he fears could spark civil war.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis, Matt Spetalnick and Corinne Heller in Jerusalem and Wafa Amr and Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category