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Israeli hit by Hamas rocket; Israel kills 2 militants

Posted on: Sunday, 11 June 2006, 04:11 CDT

By Corinne Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hamas militants in Gaza seriously wounded an Israeli in a rocket attack and an Israeli helicopter airstrike killed two Hamas militants in the northern Gaza Strip as violence escalated on Sunday.

The Israeli was hit as he walked near a school in the town of Sderot, close to the Gaza border, a hospital official said.

Hours later, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile at Hamas militants in the northern Gaza Strip, killing two and wounding three, Palestinian medics said.

The Israeli military said it launched the strike after the militants fired a rocket at Israel.

The killing of the Hamas militants was the first by Israel since the ruling Islamist group ended a 16-month truce on Friday after seven Palestinians were killed in a Gaza beach attack that Hamas blamed on the Jewish state.

Since ending its truce, Hamas has fired around two dozen rockets and several mortar rounds into Israel, mostly toward the town of Sderot. The attacks have rarely caused injuries.

In response, Israel has fired artillery shells into Gaza, the coastal strip it pulled out of last year after 38 years of occupation, and carried out several airstrikes, killing at least 12 Palestinians, including militants, Palestinian medics say.

Palestinian militant groups frequently fire makeshift rockets toward Israeli towns, but Hamas's rockets are considered more powerful and accurate than those of other groups, hence the concern in Israel at Hamas ending its truce.

There has been a marked escalation in violence in the past three days, with Hamas threatening a resumption of the type of attacks it has spearheaded against Israel since an uprising began in 2000, including suicide blasts and car bombings.

"We have decided to turn Sderot into a ghost town," Hamas said in a statement on Sunday. Hamas, which took over the Palestinian government in March, is formally sworn to Israel's destruction and has said negotiations with Israel are pointless.

The United States and European Union, which consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, have said that the group must recognize Israel's right to exist, cease attacks and abide by existing peace agreements if it wants to be accepted.

REFERENDUM TENSION

The escalation of violence with Israel comes amid growing tension and division within Palestinian politics too.

President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas, has called for a referendum next month on a document that implicitly recognizes Israel, a move rejected by Hamas.

Polls show, however, that a majority of Palestinians would likely back the statehood document in the referendum scheduled for July 26.

As well as the Israeli airstrike, another Palestinian militant was killed on Sunday in a blast in a house in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said.

It was unclear what caused the explosion, which some witnesses said was the result of an Israeli airstrike and others said was a "work accident." The man killed was a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group. Israel denied involvement.

Sunday's violence came as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was due to leave on a visit to Britain and France, where he is expected to push for a continued strong European stance against Hamas as well as discuss Iran's nuclear program.

Olmert expressed condolences for the seven Palestinian civilians killed in Friday's beach blast and said the army would investigate what happened. But he also said there would be no let up against those launching rockets.

Source: REUTERS

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