JERUSALEM: Israel weighs response to Hamas rocket fire which ended a 5-month-old shaky truce

Record ID: 396436

  • Title: JERUSALEM: Israel weighs response to Hamas rocket fire which ended a 5-month-old shaky truce
  • Date: 25th April 2007
  • Summary: MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION AND ABSORPTION ZEEV BOEM TALKING TO REPORTERS AFTER MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION AND ABSORPTION ZEEV BOEM SAYING: "It's a very serious situation now since for the first time Hamas admits that their units sent and launched Qassam towards Sderot, which means that they are not anymore keeping the 'tahdiya' which is some kind o
  • Embargoed: 10th May 2007 13:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8B7D90PWPTUQINN1VF73LS7PV
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will discuss whether to continue with the policy of 'restraint,' during meetings on Wednesday (April 25), after rocket fire ended a five month truce with Hamas.
    Israel's Army Radio is reporting there is a sense they should wait until the next time Hamas tries to kidnap another soldier and whether there is a need to respond severely. This includes renewing targeted killings, but the political establishment prefers to wait and not carry out wider operation in Gaza, the radio reported.
    The Israeli army charged that Hamas's rocket and mortar fire towards Israel was only a cover up for an attempted kidnapping which was foiled by the army near the Gaza border while the firing of the rockets was taking place.
    Hamas's armed wing declared an end to a five-month-old Gaza ceasefire on Tuesday (April 24) by firing rockets into Israel, but the Palestinian government led by the Islamist group called for the truce to be restored.
    Hamas's armed wing said it fired the rockets from the Gaza Strip in response to the killing of nine Palestinians over the weekend by Israeli forces.
    Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz warned the Palestinian unity government, formed last month by Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, against allowing additional rocket attacks.
    The rockets caused minor damage but no injuries as the Jewish state on Tuesday celebrated its Independence Day.
    "Its a very serious situation now since for the first time Hamas admits that their units sent and launched Qassam towards sderot, which means that they are not anymore keeping the 'tahdiya' which is some kind of ceasefire. So we should consider very tough military measures in order to stop these Qassam rocket launching towards Israel, including possible military activities and sending a military units inside these places," Minister of Immigration and Absorption Zeev Boem told Reuters.
    Egyptian security officials in Gaza planned to meet on Wednesday with Hamas's armed wing and other militant groups to try to head off any further escalation.
    Israeli defence minister Amr Peretz was quoted in the Haaretz newspaper as saying the "Palestinian Unity Government will not provide any (Palestinian official) with immunity" if the rocket fire continues.
    Hamas's armed wing charges that the truce was breached by Israel five months ago when it continued to target Palestinians, and the armed wing of Hamas reserves the right to respond, the military wing spokesman told reporters.
    The Hamas-led Palestinian government later called for the ceasefire to remain in place.
    Observers say there has been a debate within the Hamas leadership over whether the group has to take a harder line towards Israel, but the Islamist group denies any divisions.
    Egypt condemned Israeli forces for killing the nine Palestinians, including five militants, and also called on the Palestinians to refrain from firing rockets into Israel.
    An Israeli army spokesman said at least six rockets were fired at Israel on Tuesday, two of which landed near a southern Israeli town. There were no reports of casualties.
    It is not clear how a breakdown in the ceasefire might affect Israeli efforts to secure the release of soldier Gilad Shalit, abducted in a cross-border raid from Gaza last June. Abu Ubaida said Hamas's armed wing will try to capture more Israeli soldiers to force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.
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