Israel kills 2 militants; Hamas rocket wounds Israeli

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli helicopter air strike killed
two Palestinian militants from Hamas in Gaza on Sunday after a
rocket fired by members of the Islamic group seriously wounded
an Israeli civilian, medics said.

Witnesses said the helicopter fired a missile at a group of
men operating in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army
confirmed the strike, saying it fired after the militants
launched a rocket. Three militants were also wounded.

The strike came hours after an Israeli man was wounded when
a makeshift Hamas rocket landed near a school in the Israeli
town of Sderot, near the Gaza border. A hospital official said
the man was in serious condition.

Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets into Israel
but seldom cause anything but light damage or injuries. The
last time an Israeli was killed by a rocket strike was last
July.

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, including three children, were
killed on a Gaza beach on a day of Israeli shelling.

Israel has said the killings were a mistake. Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert expressed condolences for the deaths on
Sunday and promised an investigation.

Since ending its truce, Hamas has fired around two dozen
rockets and several mortar rounds into Israel.

Israel has responded by firing artillery shells into Gaza,
the coastal strip it pulled out of last year after 38 years of
occupation, and carrying out several air strikes, Palestinian
medics say.

While home-made Palestinian rocket attacks are common,
Hamas’s missiles 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, cease attacks and abide by existing peace
agreements if it wants to be accepted.

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Sunday’s violence came as 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 and to discuss
Iran’s nuclear program.

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

President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement was defeated
in January elections by 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, a result that could put Hamas under pressure.

As well as the Israeli air strike, 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 air strike and
others said was a “work accident.” The man killed was a member
of the Islamic Jihad militant group. Israel denied involvement.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul and Corinne Heller
in Jerusalem)