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A Gazan holds up the severed hand of one of the Jihad leader blown to bits by an Israeli missile. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners October 28, 2005 |
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| Wreckage of the car in which the Jihad leaders were traveling (AP) |
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As Israel liquidated seven Palestinians -- including a top Islamic Jihad terrorist and three other militants -- in a targeted missile strike against Islamic Jihad fugitives Thursday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would not meet with Mahmoud Abbas until the Palestinian leader cracks down on militants -- a double-edged Israeli response to the latest Palestinian suicide bombing.
Sharon vowed to conduct a "broad and relentless" offensive against militants, including mass arrests and air strikes, but security officials said Israel would stop short of carrying out a large-scale military operation.
Sharon's decision to shun Abbas was the clearest signal yet that efforts to revive peacemaking after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip last month have run aground. Abbas has said he can't and won't confront the militants, but it's unlikely progress can be made unless the two leaders meet.
The international community has been pressing for a quick Israeli-Palestinian agreement on new security arrangements for Gaza's borders crossings, and a continued deadlock over these issues will prevent the economic recovery of impoverished Gaza. That, in turn, could hurt Abbas' chances in parliament elections in January.
Wednesday's blast in an open-air market in the central Israeli town of Hadera killed five Israelis, the fourth suicide attack by Islamic Jihad since Abbas negotiated a truce deal with Palestinian groups in February.
Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, has condemned the blast, but Israel said Thursday he must do much more. "If the Palestinian Authority does not take serious and tangible action against terrorism, there will be no diplomatic progress and that would be a pity. In such a situation, I will not meet with Abu Mazen," Sharon said in a statement after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Jerusalem.
There had been repeated efforts in recent weeks to arrange a Sharon-Abbas summit, but Israeli and Palestinian negotiators could not find enough common ground on issues such as Gaza border arrangements, prisoner releases and an Israeli pullout from some West Bank towns to hold a summit.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said Sharon's demands for a crackdown "do not serve the peace process and we are ready for a meeting between Sharon and Abu Mazen without conditions."
In the Gaza refugee camp of Jebaliya, Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a car carrying Islamic Jihad activists. Hospital officials said seven people were killed and 15 wounded. A man reported dead by hospital officials was still in critical condition on life support, doctors said, adding that he was brain dead.
Among those killed were four Islamic Jihad members, including Shadi Mohanna, the group's field commander for northern Gaza.
The missiles struck the white car as it was driving in the camp. The area was crowded with people walking in the streets after evening prayers at a local mosque. Two charred bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the car and shrapnel and blood was scattered over a wide area.
In a text message sent to The Associated Press, Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, said the group would strike back. "There will be a painful, immediate response for tonight's crime," he said.
Late Thursday, Islamic Jihad said it fired rockets at Israel. However, witnesses said they landed inside Gaza. There were no reports of casualties.
Islamic Jihad had carried out the Hadera bombing to avenge the killing of a top gunmen in Judea and Samaria.
Security officials said Israeli troops would intensify arrests hunt for Islamic Jihad members and step up targeted killings of fugitives. In the northern Samaria on the "west bank" of the Jordan -- an Islamic Jihad stronghold from where the Hadera bomber had been dispatched -- the army plans to dig trenches and erect earthen barriers to disrupt Palestinian travel and make it harder for attackers to reach Israel, the officials said.
In the West Bank town of Jenin, soldiers backed by helicopter gunships arrested Abdel Halim Izzedine, an Islamic Jihad leader, at his home. Izzedine had rarely spent time at home in recent weeks for fear of arrest, but resurfaced Thursday. He was speaking by phone to a reporter from an Israeli TV station when Israeli troops pounded on his door and took him into custody.
The West Bank commander in the West Bank, Brig. Gen. Yair Golan, said Izzedine, considered as a political leader, was arrested because he had ties to Islamic Jihad's military wing.
Israel, the United States and the international community had hoped the Gaza withdrawal would jump-start peace efforts. But the two sides have so far failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Among the unresolved issues is the reopening of Gaza's border with Egypt, which Israel closed shortly before the pullout due to security concerns. The Palestinians say the border must be reopened and other travel restrictions must be lifted for Gaza's economy to recover. Israel wants to be able to monitor security issues at the border.
On Wednesday, Egypt brokered a deal under which a third party would monitor the crossing and Israel would have surveillance cameras in the area.
The small Islamic Jihad group signed on to the truce last spring, but has repeatedly flouted the cease-fire by claiming it has the right to retaliate for any perceived Israeli violations. Israel accused archenemies Iran and Syria of assisting the attackers, noting that Islamic Jihad is funded by Tehran and is based in Damascus.
The attack came hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised suicide bombings and said Israel should be "wiped off the map." Israeli leaders called for Iran to be expelled from the United Nations for the president's comments, which drew wide international condemnation.
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