Israeli’s prime minister threatened “harsh and disproportionate” retaliation after Gaza militants fired at least 10 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel on Sunday, wounding three people days ahead of elections.
Israel hit back late on Sunday, bombing the Gaza-Egypt border area — where Hamas smuggles weapons through tunnels — and the northern Gaza strip.
Since an unwritten truce ended Israel’s offensive in Gaza two weeks ago, rocket and mortar fire from the Palestinian territory has increased steadily. Israeli retaliation, including brief ground incursions and bombing runs aimed at rocket launchers and smuggling tunnels, is intensifying.
A late afternoon mortar barrage on the village of Nahal Oz, next to the Gaza border fence, wounded two soldiers and a civilian, the military said. Earlier, a rocket landed near a kindergarten near Gaza, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Even before the mortars hit Nahal Oz, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet that “if there is shooting at residents of the south, there will be an Israeli response that will be harsh and disproportionate by its nature.”
Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu said Olmert’s threat was an attempt by Israel to “find false pretexts to increase its aggression against the people” of Gaza.
Hamas has not taken responsibility for the new attacks and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak acknowledged yesterday that the group was not directly behind most of the barrages.
“We know that most of this fire is not from Hamas but from all kinds of small organizations,” he told Israel Radio. “But Hamas is responsible.”
Hamas has ruled Gaza since seizing power in 2007 and Israel holds it responsible for all attacks emanating from its territory.
Israeli defense officials said they had not yet formulated a response to the strikes, but said a return to the offensive — in which Israeli units penetrated deep into Gaza — was unlikely. Instead, they said Israel would consider airstrikes, including attempts to kill Hamas leaders. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified security matters.
Meanwhile, a Hamas spokesman said yesterday that the group favors a one-year truce in and around the Gaza Strip providing the territory’s crossings are opened.
“We agree in principle with a one-year truce,” spokesman Fawzi Barhum said, but added that Hamas has not ruled out an 18-month truce proposed by the Egyptian mediators.
“Whether one year or a year and a half, it must be linked to the opening of all crossing points, including Rafah, and the lifting of the [Israeli] blockade,” he said.
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating through Egyptian mediator and agreement to consolidate the ceasefire that ended Israel’s 22-day offensive on Jan. 18.
A Hamas delegation was due to travel to Cairo yesterday to present its response to the Egyptian proposals, Barhum said.
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