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Remains of a car in which the terrorist fugitives were riding. (AP)
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| By Associated Press November 1, 2005 |
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| AP |
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Israel killed two top Palestinian fugitives Tuesday, pulverizing their car in a missile attack just after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas traveled on the same road near a Gaza refugee camp.
The airstrike triggered threats of revenge by militants and made it harder for the beleaguered Abbas to rescue a fragile truce. In the past, armed groups have fired homemade rockets at Israeli border towns in response, drawing Israeli reprisals that have been particularly harsh since the Israeli pullout from Gaza in September.
Even as tensions rose in Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators planned to meet Tuesday to try to resolve remaining disputes over new security arrangements on the Gaza-Egypt border.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Cabinet ministers approved the deployment of European inspectors at the border, a breakthrough after weeks of slow-moving talks and a major step toward giving the Palestinians freedom of movement without Israeli controls for the first time in four decades.
In Tuesday's airstrike, missiles slammed into a car carrying two top fugitives _ Hassan Madhoun of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Fawzi Abu Kara of Hamas. The car was driving on a main north-south road next to the Jebaliya refugee camp when it was hit, and was turned into a twisted ball of metal scraps.
Just minutes earlier, Abbas' convoy had traveled on the road on his way to Gaza City, Abbas' bodyguards said.
Madhoun was involved in rocket attacks on Israel, serving as a coordinator with other militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Israeli officials said. Madhoun also helped plan three bombing attacks that killed 20 Israelis since 2004, including a blast in Israel's Ashdod port, the army said.
Military officials said the main target of the attack was Madhoun.
Hamas and Al Aqsa, a violent offshoot of Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, threatened revenge. "This is an open war," said Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri. "They (the Israelis) are going to pay a heavy price for their crimes."
Yossi Beilin, head of the dovish Israeli opposition Yahad party, charged in an AP interview that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is provoking a new cycle of violence to ensure that "the withdrawal from Gaza was the last political move" and will not by further such steps.
The airstrikes came on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, a major Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. It was not clear whether the proximity of the holiday would temper the militants' response, amid concern the Palestinian public would blame them, at least in part, for ruining the celebrations by inviting Israeli retaliation.
Hamas and Al Aqsa did not say an informal 9-month-old truce was off, but have insisted on the right to respond to Israeli strikes, a position Abbas has dismissed as unacceptable. Since the truce deal, Hamas and Al Aqsa have refrained from carrying out attacks in Israel, while Islamic Jihad has been responsible for four suicide attacks.
International mediators, meanwhile, tried to wrap up a deal on reopening the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Gazans' gate to the world. Israel closed Rafah before withdrawing, and Abbas agreed he would only reopen the border with Israeli agreement.
Israel's Security Cabinet agreed Tuesday to deploy European inspectors to replace Israeli border personnel, who had controlled Palestinian movement in and out of Gaza since capturing the territory in the 1967 Mideast war. However, Israel and the Palestinians disagree over how much authority the inspectors should have -- the Palestinians consider them to be advisers, while Israel wants them to be in charge.
Only Palestinians and foreigners with special status -- VIPs, business people, aid workers -- will be allowed to pass through Rafah for in the short term.
Israel wants to be able to monitor Rafah traffic via closed-circuit television, a demand the Palestinians reject.
"The third party is there for a reason, to monitor that we carry out our obligations," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "The Israelis have left ... There should be no camera linkage to Israel."
Israel, meanwhile, would operate an alternate crossing, Kerem Shalom, several miles away at the junction point between Egypt, Gaza and Israel. The crossing would handle goods and foreign tourists entering Gaza.
Palestinians say outgoing goods should move through Rafah, not Kerem Shalom -- another point of dispute. Israel insists that all goods go through Kerem Shalom.
A reopening of the border could give Abbas a badly needed boost as he heads into Jan. 25 parliament elections. Hamas is expected to pose a strong challenge, and until now, Gazans have seen few real benefits from the Israeli departure.
A fresh flare-up of violence has hurt hopes for a return to peacemaking in the wake of the Israeli pullout. The sides have failed to capitalize on the momentum for peace created by the Israeli pullout -- and militant reprisals for Tuesday's killings of Madhoun and Abu Kara could further erode the atmosphere.
The killing of an Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank last month was followed by a suicide bombing in the Israeli city of Hadera that killed five people.
Since the Gaza pullout, Israel has closed two Gaza crossings into Israel -- Karni for cargo and Erez for workers -- for extended periods because of security alerts, leaving the coastal strip virtually cut off from the world.
Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan Khatib said Israeli closures and restrictions in Karni and Erez have worsened the economic situation in Gaza since the pullout. He said that before the pullout, an average of 50 trucks passed Karni per day, and that the number dropped to 20 after the Israeli withdrawal.
The AP contributed to this report.
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