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Israeli reservists rest before crossing into the northern Gaza Strip - Source: Reuters -
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An Israeli soldier was killed by a bomb on the border with the
Gaza Strip and troops then killed a Palestinian, in violence that
strained a ceasefire and left people in Gaza fearing further
Israeli attacks.
Ten days after Israel halted a devastating, three-week air and
ground offensive that killed 1,300 people in the enclave, neither
the ruling Hamas Islamist movement nor its smaller allies claimed
responsibility for the attack on the patrol.
But on the day that US President Barack Obama's new envoy arrived
in the Middle East bearing a message that the "moment is ripe" for
peace talks, Israeli leaders facing an election in two weeks
promised voters they would hit back hard.
They won backing from Hillary Clinton, Obama's new secretary of
state, who said Israel had a right to defend itself against rockets
that Hamas has fired from Gaza over recent years.
"I don't care who fired," said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is
leading the ruling party in the campaign for the February 10
ballot. "Hamas controls Gaza and is responsible for everything that
happens. Whenever they fire at me from Gaza, set off a bomb or
launch a missile or smuggle (weapons), Israel will respond."
Some hours later, a senior militant from the Hamas-allied Popular
Resistance Committees (PRC) was wounded, along with a bystander, in
an Israeli air strike, militants and medics said. The missile
targeted the man as he was riding a motorcycle.
Residents near Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip close to
where the soldier was killed, said that toward evening tanks and
armoured bulldozers were manoeuvring around orchards and wells,
causing damage in a familiar punitive tactic.
Although not claiming responsibility, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu
Zuhri praised the bomb attack on the troops as "a natural response
to the crimes of the occupier". Two Palestinians were killed last
week in incidents blamed on Israeli fire.
Patrol attacked
The early morning skirmishing was the bloodiest since the 22-day
Israeli offensive ended in ceasefire declarations.
The Israeli military said a bomb was detonated against its forces
on the Israeli side of the border fence near the Kissufim crossing,
killing one soldier and wounding another three.
Israeli fire shortly afterwards in the same area killed a
Palestinian who medics said was a 27-year-old farmer.
Palestinians living near Kissufim crossing said they saw at least
two gunmen move up towards the border fence in the morning mist.
They later heard explosions and gunfire.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: "Any group that harms us
will be dealt a heavy blow."
Israel said that in response to the attack it shut down the
crossing points through which flow the humanitarian aid and other
supplies on which the 1.5 million people of Gaza depend. Aid
agencies have been urging Israel to ease restrictions on trade to
help rebuild thousands of homes destroyed in bombing.
Defence official Peter Lerner said: "This is another example of
terrorist activities against the crossings, the same crossings that
serve the Palestinian people for ... aid."
Militants have previously directly attacked the transit crossings
while demanding an end to Israel's blockade on Gaza.
Ten Israeli soldiers were killed during the offensive that began a
month ago on December 27. Three Israeli civilians also
died.
Negotiations
Hamas and Israel declared separate ceasefires and both sides are
negotiating through Egyptian mediators on a longer-term truce.
Hamas wants an easing of Israel's blockade. Israel wants guarantees
Hamas cannot renew rocket fire on its towns.
In an interview broadcast on Al Arabiya, Obama said Israel and the
Palestinians should resume peace negotiations.
His envoy George Mitchell arrived in Egypt on Tuesday and is due in
Jerusalem on Wednesday for talks with Israeli leaders.
Obama's predecessor George W. Bush pushed hard in his final year in
power but negotiators failed to achieve his goal of a deal on
establishing a Palestinian state by the time he left office.
Obama said: "The moment is ripe for both sides to realise that the
path that they are on is one that is not going to result in
prosperity and security for their people. And that instead, it's
time to return to the negotiating table."
Clinton, in her first news conference at the State Department,
warned Hamas: "We support Israel's right to self-defence. The
rocket barrages ... cannot go unanswered."
Obama has promised the Muslim world a fresh approach but Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking to world Jewish leaders in
Jerusalem on Monday, said the new US president had also assured him
that Washington remained a friend to Israel.
Olmert, who quit over a corruption scandal, will step down finally
once a new government is formed following the election.
As well as uncertainty over who will be governing Israel -- the
right-wing opposition chief Benjamin Netanyahu is tipped by polls,
Mitchell also faces a divided Palestinian leadership.
Egypt said that it proposed a meeting on February 22 to try to end
a schism between Hamas, which won a parliamentary election in 2006,
and Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, whose power has been
restricted to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since Hamas seized
control of Gaza 20 months ago.
