Israeli strikes kills eight Palestinian militants

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli airstrikes killed eight Gaza
militants on Saturday, the latest in what Palestinian leaders
called an “escalation” of violence aimed at blackmailing them
into concessions.

“This Israeli escalation aims to bring the Palestinian
people to their knees and to blackmail the government in order
to win over political concessions,” Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza.

Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose centrist
Kadima party won an election in March and plans on Sunday to
begin formal talks with parties to form a cabinet, had vowed an
“iron” response against a surge of rocket attacks from Gaza.

Fourteen Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes
since Friday, including 13 militants and a five-year-old boy.

The latest strike, near the town of Khan Younis, targeted a
training camp used by the Abu el-Reesh Brigades militant group,
which is part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah
faction. Four of the six militants killed were family members.

An earlier Israeli airstrike killed two militants from
al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is also part of Fatah.

Two Palestinians were also wounded by Israeli artillery
shells that hit their house in northern Gaza, where Israel has
focused its strikes against rocket-launchers.

Interior Minister and Hamas leader Sayid Seyam called the
Israeli attacks “an escalation of aggression.”

In a statement he urged militants to evacuate training
camps and warned all Palestinians to stay away from them “in
order not to be an easy target for the occupation.”

A spokesman for Abu el-Reesh Brigades, a group involved in
rocket attacks, said its militants would still train gunmen and
target Israel.

Hamas, an Islamic militant faction elected in January to
lead the Palestinian government, said Israel’s attacks were an
attempt to force it to change its policies regarding the Jewish
state.

“ISRAELI ESCALATION”

Israel, the United States and the European Union have
suspended direct funding to the new Hamas-led government until
it renounces violence, recognizes Israel’s right to exist and
supports internationally backed Middle East peace initiatives.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction and which has
carried out about 60 suicide bombings since a 2000 Palestinian
uprising, has largely abided by a year-long truce but has said
it could be extended under a future deal.

Olmert said his new government would implement his plan to
evacuate settlers from some West Bank settlements to large ones
and set Israel’s borders if the U.S. government agreed Hamas
was not ready for “genuine” and “meaningful” negotiations.

He has said any group that joins his coalition must adopt
the plan. His predecessor, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, formed
Kadima prior to his stroke in January after quitting his
right-wing Likud party because it had opposed his Gaza plan.

Groups set to participate in Kadima’s coalition talks in
the coming days include right-leaning factions that have urged
tougher military action against Palestinian militants and the
increased rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

Abbas’s adviser, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said the Palestinian
Authority would appeal to the U.N. Security Council to draft a
resolution against Israel’s latest strikes, which he said would
“lead the region to further deterioration and instability.”

(Additional reporting by Megan Goldin and Mohammed Assadi)