Debate raged in Israel yesterday over the wisdom of killing one of its most bitter enemies at the price of the lives of 14 Palestinians and international condemnation of the devastating Gaza air raid.
A day after the killing of Salah Shehada, commander of the military wing of the Islamic group Hamas, it emerged that the F-16 warplane that attacked his house used a one-tonne precision "smart bomb" to ensure he could not survive.
"Ultimately it was the military's mistake, but it does not send an F-16 to a populated area without political authorization," Haim Ramon, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, told Israel Radio.
Military affairs correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai said on the same program the destructive power of the bomb was doubled by its detonation in a dense warren of buildings in Gaza City.
In an editorial, Israel's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, said Israelis would shed no tears for Shehada, blamed by Israeli security officials for dozens of suicide bombings during the Palestinian uprising against occupation.
But it said: "Even when the enemy is cruel and terrible, the heart still aches at the sight of tiny bodies being borne to their grave."
Nine Palestinian children, including a two-month-old baby, were among the 14 others killed in the attack.
The strike, which Palestinians called a massacre, drew rare criticism from Washington which joined the EU, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and a slew of countries around the world in condemning the strike.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said there had been signs an agreement to end a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings within Israel had been within reach before the air raid.
But Israeli President Moshe Katzav, repeating Israeli leaders' expressions of regret at the loss of innocent lives, challenged Solana's assessment.
"It is the opinion of all security elements that [the Palestinians'] intentions are not serious and they will not stop the terrorist attacks," he told Army Radio.
Katzav holds a largely figurehead post, but he said he is briefed regularly by the military and Israeli intelligence.
EU diplomats said Solana had been aware of a secret plan for armed groups with links to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, to declare a unilateral halt to suicide attacks.
An announcement had been due on Tuesday, with a strong possibility that Hamas, the main Islamic militant movement, would have joined the moratorium, the diplomats said.
Israel carried out the attack one day after Hamas's spiritual leader, wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, said the group would consider halting suicide attacks if Israel withdrew from occupied West Bank cities.
Asked if he was apologizing for the air raid, Katzav said: "I would call it an expression of sorrow and condolences to the families."
Israel said the Gaza attack was an unavoidable step to protect its people from suicide bombers. Israeli officials said the army had incorrect intelligence information showing that Shehada was alone in his apartment at the time.
Sharon called the strike a "great success" but said he regretted the death of civilians.
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