JERUSALEM, 17 March 2004 — Israeli troops were massing around the Gaza Strip yesterday as defense officials threatened an unprecedented military response to a double suicide bombing that killed 10 civilians in the port of Ashdod.
Israel’s Security Cabinet decided yesterday to step up military operations against the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and its leadership following the twin suicide blast, an Israeli official said. “We will intensify our operations against Hamas and its leadership,” he told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
The official was speaking after Israel’s Security Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, wrapped up its first meeting in six months. A senior security source said Monday the proposed reprisals would be “exceptional in their scope, their intensity and their duration”, and include activities “not seen in the Palestinian territories for a long time”.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei yesterday warned against Israeli military operations in Gaza, saying “this will be useless because violence breeds violence. “They (Israelis) must put a halt to the violence they generated in the first place so that we can do the same.”
The bombings — the first carried out by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip since the start of their intifada and the first to hit a strategic target — rattled Israel’s security establishment.
On Monday night, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened to unleash unprecedented military might on the Gaza Strip. A senior security source, quoted by the radio, said the proposed moves would be “exceptional in their scope, their intensity and their duration”, and include activities “not seen in the Palestinian territories for a long time”.
The Israeli daily Haaretz website said defense officials proposed an increase of both ground operations and targeted killings similar to those carried out last autumn in Gaza following a series of suicide attacks in Jerusalem.
The Ashdod attacks were jointly claimed by Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas’ military wing, sparking fears that Israel’s Army would make fresh attempts to kill the Islamist movement’s main leaders, such as Abdelaziz Rantissi or Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
The Ashdod bombings prompted Sharon to rule out any negotiations with the current Palestinian leadership, whom he accused of not having “the necessary courage or capabilities to fight terrorism.”
Following the bombings, Sharon had already indefinitely postponed a long-awaited summit with Qorei. The Palestinians accused Sharon of seeking a free hand to conduct large-scale military operations and implement unilateral political steps.
At an emergency meeting convened Monday night at Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Ramallah compound, divisions on what course to follow in the aftermath of the attacks left Qorei’s government cracking at the seams.
“The prime minister said he was considering resignation because his government is completely crippled and has nothing to show,” a minister who attended the meeting said on condition of anonymity.
Sharon has been promoting a so-called disengagement plan for a withdrawal from most of the Gaza Strip and some Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but when pressed by his own Parliament for more details Monday, Sharon refused to elaborate.
The premier has met substantial opposition from his own Cabinet to a plan calling for the dismantling of settlements. The Palestinians also fear such unilateral measures might compromise future negotiations on “permanent status” issues.
As Israeli troops were deploying around the Gaza Strip, tension was nearing boiling point in the impoverished territory, where the army has carried out frequent deadly raids in recent weeks. Israeli troops staged a brief incursion south of Gaza City overnight Monday and dynamited a building which housed a school, Palestinian security sources said.
