GAZA CITY, 18 February 2003 — Israel turned its military might on Hamas in its Gaza bastion yesterday, killing two Palestinians in a major night raid and fatally wounding a Hamas leader in an ambush, after a day of bloodshed which left nine other Palestinians dead.
Despite the spate of killings, separate Israeli and Palestinian delegations headed to London for talks on Palestinian reforms.
The Gaza raid, which also left four Palestinians injured as 40 Israeli tanks and two bulldozers pushed into the north, came as the Israeli press warned of a major army thrust into Gaza in retaliation for a weekend blast that killed four soldiers and destroyed a tank.
The multipronged night raid left two Palestinians dead, one of them a policeman killed at a security outpost, while four others were wounded by helicopter gunfire and an apartment block belonging to a Hamas leader was blown up.
Two tanks also moved into the nearby Jabalya refugee camp and fired several tank shells at an unidentified target, but no casualties were reported.
The major incursion, started late Sunday, came just a day after four Israeli soldiers were killed in a massive bomb attack on a tank in the Beit Lahiya area.
The tank ran over an explosive device on Saturday morning and was completely destroyed, killing all four soldiers in it as troops moved into the area to raze agricultural land and several greenhouses in the area.
Hamas claimed the blast, prompting Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to promise to land a serious blow against Hamas which has been in the vanguard of the 28-month Palestinian uprising.
Israel kept up the pressure this morning when an undercover unit ambushed and fatally wounded Riyad Abu Zaid, a local Hamas military commander, on a road south of Gaza City.
Israeli public radio quoted military sources as saying Abu Zaid was a top Hamas leader, and that the operation was an arrest bid that had ended in a shooting.
But Hamas leader Abdelaziz Al-Rantissi insisted it was a deliberate assassination.
Two other Hamas fighters traveling with Abu Zaid were wounded and arrested in the operation.
The raids followed a bloody day which saw six Hamas men killed in an explosion in a Gaza house, which Rantissi also slammed as an assassination.
“This is a terrorist operation, 100 percent a Zionist assassination,” he told AFP. “The Zionist occupier will pay a heavy price for this.”
Meanwhile, Hamas yesterday vowed to hit back at Israel for the deaths of of its members, putting all its cells on alert.
The Ezzedin Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that “all members should be on alert and ready for revenge against the Israeli crime.”
Around 70,000 people turned out to the Gaza City funeral of the six Hamas men killed by an explosion on Sunday as they were handling a light aircraft.
Hamas leaders said the explosion was an Israeli strike.
It was not clear how the explosion occurred. The Israeli Army was still refusing to comment on the blast 24 hours after it happened.
Analysts said they expected more such incursions by the army against Hamas and others, but said it was unlikely Israel would fully reoccupy the Gaza Strip as it has the West Bank, which it took over in June.
Such a huge operation would lack domestic support at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is trying to build a national unity government, and would also hinder US plans to launch an anticipated strike on Iraq.
Also Sunday, another three Palestinians were killed in clashes in Nablus as the Israeli Army moved in to arrest Taysir Khaled, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Twenty eight Palestinians were wounded during the operation. The Israeli Army also stormed the northern West Bank town of Jenin Sunday night, sparking clashes in which two Palestinians were wounded.
In spite of the violence, Israeli and Palestinian delegations headed to London for a series of meetings aimed at furthering reforms in the Palestinian Authority.
Unlike in January, when Israel blocked Palestinian officials from attending a British-sponsored conference which Israeli officials had not been invited to, the Palestinians said they been allowed to travel this time. (AFP)
