Israel to resume Gaza attacks
Middle east Desk Report

JERUSALEM—Israel decided on Wednesday to resume pinpoint attacks against Palestinian rocket-launching cells in Gaza, jeopardizing what is already a shaky, month-old truce with Gaza militants.
The decision came hours after a Palestinian rocket seriously wounded two Israeli teenage boys in Sderot, a town in southern Israel close to the Gaza border. Shortly after the new policy was announced, a rocket was fired from Gaza but no injuries were reported. Although Israel said it remains committed to the truce, the decision to strike against rocket launchers clearly raises the tension.
It also could undermine Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent efforts to bolster the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who is in a standoff with Hamas. The Islamic militant group controls the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet.
“The defense establishment has been instructed to take pinpoint action against the rocket-launching cells,” Olmert’s office said after a morning meeting of senior officials. “At the same time, Israel will continue to abide by the cease-fire.” Hamas government spokeswoman Ghazi Hamad denounced the Israeli decision to “continue their aggression.”
But he added, “We still believe that this agreement is alive, and both sides should respect this agreement because it is (in) the interest (of) our people.” Palestinian militants violated the truce within an hour after it took effect on Nov. 26, and by the military’s count, have launched more than 60 rockets at southern Israel since then.
Israel has so far refrained from responding, but Olmert had warned in recent days that his patience was wearing thin. Olmert has come under intense pressure from residents of Sderot, political opponents and members of his own Cabinet to take action against the rockets.
The army said the rocket fired on Wednesday landed in Palestinian territory, but Israel Radio said it landed in an open field in Sderot, causing no injuries or damage. Islamic Jihad militants claimed reponsibility. Most of the crude weapons have been launched by Islamic Jihad, a radical group backed by Iran that does not participate in Palestinian politics.
Abu Hamza, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, said the group was not moved by Olmert’s threat. “Any harm to our leaders will be met with a harsh response,” he said. Hamza said the rocket fire was a response to Israeli arrests of militants in the West Bank, which is not covered by the truce.
The truce ended five months of deadly fighting that followed an attack by Hamas-linked gunmen on an Israeli army post just outside Gaza. Two soldiers were killed and another was captured in that raid, and Israel retaliated by sending ground troops, artillery and aircraft to strike at militants and their rocket squads.
But the incursions failed to stop the rocket fire or win the release of the soldier. When Abbas, a moderate who favors peace talks, persuaded militant factions to agree to a truce, Olmert agreed to pull Israeli forces out of Gaza.
Israel’s policy of renewed retaliation could undo progress toward bolstering Abbas against his Hamas rivals. Olmert and Abbas met on Saturday for their first working meeting, and Olmert pledged to ease restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza as a gesture to the Palestinian president.
Renewed violence could delay or shelve those plans. In other efforts to push forward with peace efforts, Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are to meet Jan. 4 in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Israeli officials said. Egypt has played a major role in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians, and has been trying to negotiate the release of the captured Israeli soldier. The Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, was meeting Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Wednesday to help prepare for next week’s summit. And in an attempt to end the deadly tensions between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah, Jordan has invited Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas to Amman.
Talks between the rivals over forming a national unity government broke down last month, and Abbas has threatened to call early elections to end the impasse. The tensions erupted into factional fighting that has killed 17 people this month.