“Israel” renews attacks killing 5 Palestinians “Israeli” settler dies in rocket barrage

Source: AP, 21-5-2007
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - "Israel" pushed ahead Monday with its campaign against Palestinian rocket squads, launching new airstrikes that killed five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. An "Israeli" female settler was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza - the first death to be reported in the latest attacks.
The strikes followed an attack overnight that hit the house of a Hamas lawmaker, killing eight people, including six civilians. It was the deadliest air attack in six days of a renewed "Israeli" campaign against incessant Palestinian rocket fire, and prompted Hamas officials to turn off their cell phones, limit their movements and take other precautions Monday.
The dead from that attack were buried Monday, their bodies wrapped in the green flags of Hamas. Tens of thousands of people joined their funeral procession.
"You are under attack because you are strong, because you are the supporters of the resistance in Palestine," Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas told the crowd.
After a six-month lull, "Israel" resumed its policy of airstrikes on militant targets on May 16 in response to repeated Palestinian rocket attacks. Nearly 40 Palestinians have been killed.
The "Israeli" operations have not managed to stem the Palestinian rocket fire. Palestinians launched at least 13 rockets at "Israel" from Gaza on Monday, according to the military and "Israeli" media.
Settler killed in Sderot
At sundown, one of the rockets hit a car in the nearby "Israeli" town of Sderot, killing a settler and wounding two others, the rescue service said. The car was set on fire by the blast. Serious injuries in rocket attacks often trigger a harsh "Israeli" response.
The settler was the first "Israeli" killed in a rocket attack since November.
The attack came just after a meeting in Sderot between "Israeli" Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. They were not harmed.
The latest air force attacks followed an "Israeli" government decision Sunday to step up operations against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the groups responsible for firing most of the rocket barrages. According to the army, more than 150 rockets have been fired in the past six days, wounding several "Israelis" and disrupting life in towns near Gaza.
Hamas leader escapes "Israeli" attack
The Hamas lawmaker whose home was hit by the "Israeli" missile, Khalil al-Haya, is a hard-liner known to have ties to Hamas' military wing. Two of al-Haya's bodyguards were killed in an "Israeli" airstrike on Thursday.
But Capt. Noa Meir denied the airstrike was aimed at al-Haya's home, claiming the target was a nearby group of five armed Hamas men, including a senior militant.
"Israeli" security officials said the army was targeting only Hamas fighters, not political leaders. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to divulge the government's directives.
There are growing signs that Hamas' political leaders could become targets if the rocket fire persists. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Security Cabinet warned Sunday it would consider "more drastic measures" if necessary.
Hamas blackout
Many Hamas officials turned off their cell phones to avoid detection by "Israel", and Hamas official Ayman Taha said the group ordered its leaders to limit movement and not ride in cars.
"We have to be careful," Taha said. "The target was Khalil al-Haya yesterday."
In Monday's violence, an "Israeli" missile struck a car carrying four Islamic Jihad men, killing all of them. A spokesman for the group said they were targeted just after they launched rockets into "Israel". The military confirmed the attack.
Other airstrikes killed a pro-Hamas Palestinian and suspected weapons storage facilities, the army claimed.
"Israeli" official calls for assassination
In an interview with Army Radio, "Israeli" Public Security Minister Avi Dichter called for the assassination of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who lives in exile in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
"Khaled Mashaal isn't immune, not in Damascus and not anywhere else. I'm convinced that at the first opportunity, we will bid him farewell," Dichter said. A Dichter aide told The Associated Press that he was expressing his personal opinion, not government policy.
The "Israeli" operations appear to have helped cement a truce between Hamas and Fatah, which have clashed in intense battles in Gaza in the past week.
There was a feeling in Gaza that the "Israeli" retaliation was bringing the Palestinian factions together in the face of a common enemy - which might have been Hamas' intention when it ratcheted up its rocket fire at "Israel" and attacked a Gaza-"Israel" border crossing last week.
"No one would condone fighting one another while the ‘Israelis' are shelling Gaza," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
Nevertheless, internal violence flared briefly in Gaza on Monday when three masked men stormed a building in the town of Khan Younis and shot two men from Hamas, wounding one seriously, Hamas and security officials said. Hamas blamed Fatah-allied security men for the attack, but the incident did not spark more factional fighting.