GAZA CITY, 25 September 2005 — Two weeks after pulling out of the Gaza Strip, Israel yesterday killed two Palestinian activists in an apparent resumption of its controversial policy of assassinations. A Palestinian group based in Damascus called it the end of an informal truce between Israel and the Palestinian fighters while Hamas called on its members to strike Israel “in every spot of our occupied land.”
The two Hamas fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. A total of eight Israeli airstrikes pounded the Gaza Strip yesterday in response to some 34 Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel that have injured five people.
“The Israeli Air Force targeted a vehicle containing weaponry which belonged to Hamas and a second vehicle carrying Hamas terrorists,” an Israeli government spokeswoman said.
Both cars dissolved into balls of fire, flinging body parts across the street in the eastern Gaza Strip, as two people in one of the vehicles managed to escape with their lives, witnesses said.
Hamas named the two dead activists as Rwad Farhad, 17, and Nafaz Abu Hasen, both of whom were members of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, its armed wing.
Israel also sealed the West Bank and Gaza, barring all Palestinians from its territory. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon scheduled a meeting of his Security Cabinet later to approve the military response, expected to last for several days, though a large-scale ground operation appeared unlikely.
Israeli forces massed near the border with Gaza and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said a ground offensive was being considered. “The response will be crushing and unequivocal,” said Mofaz.
Gaza activists said their missile strikes on Israel were retaliation for a blast that killed 15 people at a Hamas rally on Friday. But Israel denied responsibility for that explosion and the Palestinian Authority said it appeared to have been an accident caused by Hamas members carrying explosives. Earlier on Friday, Israeli troops killed three West Bank fighters.The violence left a bitter taste for Gazans still celebrating the final Israeli troop withdrawal on Sept. 12. “We thought there would be no more death. I guess we were too hopeful,” said Khaled Hamed, 30, outside the main morgue.
Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades issued a statement declaring a state of alert in the West Bank and Gaza and urging its members to “take extreme caution and security measures.” The statement called on all “cells to respond to the crimes of the enemy and hit them in every spot of our occupied land... to avenge the blood of our martyrs and teach (Israel) a lesson.”
The Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command denounced the missile attack as a “treacherous crime” that would not go unpunished. It said its truce with Israel was over.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei called on the international community, particularly the United States, to push Israel to stop the escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories. “We call on the international community, the quartet and the American administration to intervene to put a stop to the Israeli escalation,” Qorei told reporters in Ramallah.
The Arab League voiced its concern over the airstrike, saying it raised questions over the Jewish state’s commitment to the peace process. Egypt, which recently deployed troops along Gaza’s southern border, also condemned the raid and said consultations had been initiated to prevent a flare-up.
— Additional input from agencies
