Sharon gives army free hand; troops mass near Gaza

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel, threatening a major ground
offensive into Gaza, gave a free hand to security forces to
stop Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes on Sunday.

Troops and tanks massed in preparation for an attack, but
Israeli political sources said they were unlikely to move
before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits to try to
salvage a crumbling 5-month-old cease-fire.

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 prospects for peacemaking.

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 by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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

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

Troops also said they killed a gunman nearing a settlement
in central Gaza. There was no Palestinian confirmation.

In northern Gaza, an Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a
car carrying three Hamas militants leaving a site in Beit
Lahiya used to fire rockets at Jewish settlements, witnesses
said.

The militants jumped out but one was wounded by shrapnel,
witnesses and medics said. The Israeli army had no comment.

ISRAELI FORCES MASSED

Palestinian mortars injured six Israelis in southern Gaza
settlements. Hamas said it had fired them in retaliation for
the killing of Seyam, its ninth loss in the latest upsurge.

Soon after, witnesses said two Palestinians were injured by
tank fire.

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 Palestinian attacks to a halt. “There are
signs that the situation could be defused,” said one.

Egyptian officials met Hamas leaders in Gaza to try to
shore up the truce. Rice is due in the region at the end of the
week.

Washington wants to preserve the cease-fire 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 an Israeli incursion into Gaza but has
to tread carefully against Hamas. Gun battles on Friday between
Hamas, committed to destroying Israel, and Palestinian police
trying to stop the rocket fire have raised fears of civil war.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said an Israeli
ground incursion into Gaza “would have only disastrous results
on the prospects for the Gaza disengagement and on the peace
process as a whole.”

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