Israel cut off fuel supplies to Gaza’s 1.4 million residents yesterday, a day after four Palestinian militants infiltrated the Israeli depot that is the territory’s sole source of fuel, and shot dead two civilian workers.
The brazen daylight raid in southern Israel threatened to set off a new round of fighting in Gaza after a monthlong lull and could jeopardize recently renewed peace efforts.
Three smaller militant factions claimed they carried out the attack, but the Israeli government held Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible. It sent tanks, troops and aircraft into the Palestinian territory after the raid, killing at least eight Palestinians, including three civilians. And it warned that more reprisals could be coming.
PHOTO: AFP
“We will choose the time and the place to respond. The blame lies on Hamas as the responsible authority there,” Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defense minister, told Israel’s Army Radio.
The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad took part in the attack and called the raid, which was carried out under cover of mortar fire, a “unique and complicated operation.”
Major Tal Levram, an Israeli army spokesman, said the militants apparently were planning to carry out a broader attack on a neighboring Israeli village or to kidnap soldiers, but were thwarted by the arrival of Israeli troops.
Palestinian militants frequently attack the Israeli border, but they rarely succeed in getting through. In another daring daytime raid in June 2006, militants tunneled into Israel, killed two soldiers and captured a third. The soldier, Corporal Gilad Schalit, remains in captivity.
Wednesday’s attack upset more than a month of calm following a broad Israeli military offensive that killed more than 120 Gazans, including dozens of civilians. Since the offensive ended early last month, Egypt has been trying to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and the sides appear to have been honoring an informal truce.
Israel sealed its borders with Gaza after the Islamic militant group seized control of the territory in June, and has reduced the flow of fuel, electricity and basic goods. The sanctions have hit the area hard, and on Tuesday, Hamas threatened to blow up Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt to relieve the strain.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said the raid would not disrupt peace talks.
“We decided that we will continue to talk and will not let terrorists have a veto voice on the talks with the pragmatic forces,” Mekel said.
Vilnai said that the army was investigating the incident to determine what went wrong.
“Obviously there was a mishap,” he said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli think tank said Hamas’ military buildup was at its peak, despite the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said the Islamic militant Hamas had organized 20,000 armed forces and acquired longer-range rockets and advanced anti-tank weapons.
It also said Iran and Syria supply Hamas with weapons, know-how and training. In a report released yesterday, it said the Hamas had smuggled more than 70 tonnes of explosives into the Gaza Strip since it seized the territory in June.
The center has close links to Israel’s defense establishment and based its report on data supplied in part by the Shin Bet security agency.
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