GAZA / JERUSALEM: Israeli air strike kills Hamas gunman in Gaza, as Israeli FM says Israel will "change reality" of situation in enclave

Record ID: 340194

  • Title: GAZA / JERUSALEM: Israeli air strike kills Hamas gunman in Gaza, as Israeli FM says Israel will "change reality" of situation in enclave
  • Date: 25th December 2008
  • Summary: SDEROT, ISRAEL (DECEMBER 24, 2008) (REUTERS) ISRAELI PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES LIGHTS CANDLES FOR THE JEWISH HOLIDAY OF HANUKKAH IN THE TOWN OF SDEROT, OFTEN TARGETED BY PALESTINIAN ROCKETS FROM THE GAZA STRIP PERES SHAKING HANDS OF SDEROT PEOPLE IN AUDITORIUM PERES GIVING SPEECH AT FOOD FACTORY IN SDEROT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES SAYING: "The situ
  • Embargoed: 9th January 2009 12:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6AGY2UIJJ2IFST74QAGDSOLTJ
  • Story Text: Israeli air strike kills Hamas gunman in the Gaza Strip, as Palestinian militants fire dozens of rockets into southern Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says Israel will "change reality" of the situation in the coastal enclave.
    An Israeli air strike killed a Hamas gunman in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening (December 24), as Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets and mortars into southern Israel, dampening prospects for a renewed ceasefire.
    An Israeli military spokesman said the air strike targeted a group of militants who had just fired mortars at Israel.
    Palestinian medical workers said one Hamas militant was killed in the strike and two other Palestinians were wounded, including a cameraman from Hamas's television station.
    On Wednesday evening in Jerusalem, Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told her Kadima party that Israel would "change the reality"
    of the situation in Gaza.

    "The government has responsibility, and the Israeli army has the force to change this reality, and we will change this reality," said Livni, who hopes to replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister in a February election.
    She added that "our desire for quiet cannot replace our responsibility to act when necessary, and now it is necessary. There is a point when all nations and every leadership says, and that's what we are saying tonight: it stops here."
    Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres toured the southern town of Sderot, which is regularly hit by rockets launched from the Gaza Strip.
    He told reporters that "The situation is simple. Some of the Gazan people are saying 'why doesn't Israel respect the ceasefire?' One may think that Israel started the fire. It didn't start the fire. It's not a symmetric fire. If the people in Gaza want to live in peace, if the people in Gaza want to enjoy free passages, there is a simple thing they have and can do - stop shooting".
    Olmert's government said it had shown restraint until now but vowed to act if the salvoes continued. Aides to Olmert, who met his security cabinet, would not say what options were under discussion.
    Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said that if rockets attacks continue, Israel won't be able to maintain its restraint.

    "Up until now, despite daily rocket attacks against our civilians, Israel has acted with great restraint. And we are still willing to answer quiet with quiet, but if these attacks continue, these rocket attacks against our civilians, we will act to defend our people," he said.
    Before nightfall on Wednesday, militants had fired more than 30 rockets and 30 mortar shells at Israel. While most fell in unpopulated areas, two struck homes, causing damage but no injuries.
    In addition to makeshift rockets that landed near the border, Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, said it fired two longer-range Grad rockets, and threatened to expand the "circle of fire" deeper into Israel.
    The latest violence erupted on Tuesday night (December 23) when Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas gunmen. The army said the men were preparing to plant explosives along the border.
    The rocket salvoes that followed, fired by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group, prompted Israel to reverse its decision to allow aid supplies into the coastal enclave through border crossings controlled by the military.
    Israel and Hamas have signalled interest in extending the six-month truce, which expired on Friday. But if violence along the border continues, both have threatened a wider confrontation that could result in heavy casualties on both sides.
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country brokered the lapsed truce, planned to discuss prospects for renewing the truce during talks on Thursday in Cairo with Livni.
    Ends.
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