Hamas wounds 4 "Israeli" troops

Source: alalam.ir, 3-6-2007
AL-QUDS -Hamas resistance fighters wounded four "Israeli" occupation soldiers in a mortar attack on a base near the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The attack came shortly after the Zionist regime`s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to press ahead with a ruthless air raid campaign against Palestinians.
The attack on the base near the Erez crossing seriously wounded one soldier and lightly wounded three others, the army said.
Hamas fighters claimed responsibility in a text message sent to reporters.
In addition to an air and artillery campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, the "Israeli" military regularly carries out kidnap raids in the West Bank.
Early Sunday, occupation troops martyred a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank town of Jenin after martyring three others the day before, "Israeli" and Palestinian officials said.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday that "Israeli" attacks could negatively affect an upcoming meeting between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Olmert.
Abbas has said he will meet Olmert on June 7 but Erekat said no date has been set for the meeting, adding contacts with the Zionists to arrange for the meeting were underway.
Abbas has been trying to press coalition partner Hamas to renew the truce with the occupation regime.
A member of the Hamas political bureau, Mohammed Nazal, confirmed Saturday that Hamas is considering a ceasefire.
But Hamas wants the ceasefire to include the West Bank as well as Gaza, an idea that the Zionist regime rejects.
A previous Gaza truce between Hamas and the Zionist regime unraveled in mid-May when Hamas intensified rocket launchings into "Israeli" targets amid the Zionist regime`s airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
The "Israeli" attacks have martyred more than 60 Palestinians so far.
On Sunday, Olmert vowed the "Israeli" army would continue its strikes despite a drop in projectiles fired by militants at the weekend.
"In view of what appears to be a drop in Qassam fire, I would like to make it clear that we are not negotiating," Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to the homemade rockets.
"We are not committing ourselves to changing the patterns of our operations," he said.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum denied that two days of relative quiet at the weekend represented a "change of strategy".
"We will respond with all necessary force and we will increase the resistance in the face of `Israeli`) violations," he told France`s AFP news agency.
Barhum repeated that the movement is demanding a "general truce" to apply to both Gaza and the West Bank to stop its fire.
More than 285 projectiles have been fired at "Israeli" targets since May 15, killing two Zionists, wounding more than 20 people and sending hundreds fleeing from the southern town of Sderot.