JERUSALEM, 2 October 2004 — The Israeli Army killed eight Palestinians in Gaza yesterday as it poured tanks and soldiers into the Gaza Strip. And Israeli helicopters fired two rockets at a building in Gaza City, Palestinian security sources said, causing no casualties.
The two rockets destroyed a building housing a metal workshop, they said.
Israeli military sources said the workshop was used to manufacture improvised rockets used to attack Israel but local sources said it was used to repair washing machines and other household appliances.
The attack came as Washington called on Israel to use only “proportional force” in its ongoing military operations in Gaza and to avoid civilian casualties which it said complicated Middle East peace efforts.
At least 45 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed so far.
Palestinian officials said dozens of tanks pushed into north Gaza while more forces massed on the border, hours after 28 Palestinians and three Israelis were killed on Thursday, the territory’s bloodiest day in four years of conflict.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his security Cabinet on Thursday ordered the army to carve out a “buffer zone” to halt rocket attacks that have fueled criticism of his plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from the territory by the end of 2005.
The operation, codenamed “Days of Reckoning”, followed the killing of two Israeli children by a rocket in the border town of Sderot on Wednesday. Eluding troops, Palestinians fired off another rocket yesterday but caused no casualties.
A Hamas memeber blew himself up at a border crossing as Israeli forces poured through into Gaza and troops shot dead two of his armed accomplices, the group said in a statement. The army had no immediate comment.
The offensive was directed at Jabaliya, Gaza’s largest refugee camp. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei called it “state terror that deliberately targets civilians” and urged international intervention.
In the latest violence in Jabaliya, three Palestinians were wounded by what witnesses said appeared to be an Israeli missile. An army bulldozer drove over a planted explosive device, injuring two troops inside, military sources said. Nearly 30,000 Palestinians, many shouting for revenge, marched in funerals for those killed on Thursday.
Hamas, at the heart of a campaign of bombings and rocket attacks, called the Israeli incursion “all-out war” and vowed not to submit.
Commenting on Israel’s military tactics, a White House spokesman said Israel “has the right to defend itself”, but urged both sides to promote the “road map” peace plan, backed by President George W. Bush and currently stalled by violence.
In Amsterdam, the European Union’s Dutch presidency condemned the deadly attack in Sderot but called Israel’s military retaliation “disproportionate,” noting the many casualties of Palestinian civilians, including children.
“Israel has the right to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks but ... the exercise of this right should take place within the boundaries of international law,” Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said in a statement.
The latest cycle of bloodshed has sent Sharon scrambling to counter right-wing critics who say his plan to withdraw troops and settlers from Gaza next year has emboldened Palestinians trying to give the impression that Israel is being driven out.
“It is important to make clear to the other side that we will not tolerate terrorist actions or a retreat under fire,” Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told troops as he visited Gaza.
