Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce

Videos
Photos

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-28 13:55

After Tuesday's blast, heavy gunfire was heard along the border in central Gaza, and hovering Israeli helicopters fired machine gun bursts, Palestinian witnesses said. An Israeli jet set off a loud sonic boom over Gaza City not long afterward, possibly as a warning.

A relative of Palestinian farmer Anwar al-Beram cries during his funeral in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip January 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Palestinian residents said Israeli tanks and bulldozers also entered the area where the roadside bombing took place and were tearing up some vacant land, apparently to prevent it from being used to stage attacks.

Not long after the bombing, a 27-year-old Gaza farmer was killed by Israeli gunfire along the border several miles away, Palestinian medical officials said. The military had no comment, and it was unclear if the two incidents were related.

The violence cast a shadow over the arrival of George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama's special Mideast envoy. Mitchell arrived in Egypt on Tuesday and was set to visit Israel on Wednesday for three days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on how to get stalled peace efforts back on track. Mitchell is expected to meet Olmert, top security officials, and the pro-Western Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Mitchell has no plans to meet with Hamas, which the US, Israel and European Union consider a terrorist group. Hamas seized Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007. Hamas' control of Gaza, and its refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist, are considered major obstacles to peace efforts.

The decision to appoint a presidential envoy and send him to the Middle East so early in the administration is a sign that Obama intends to take a more active approach to the region than did his predecessor. As the man who brokered Northern Ireland's Good Friday peace accord in 1998, Mitchell also brings gravitas to the job and a proven record of resolving seemingly intractable disputes.

In an interview Monday with the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya, Obama said he felt it important to "get engaged right away" in the Mideast. He said he directed Mitchell to talk to "all the major parties involved" and that his administration would craft an approach after that.

"What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama said. At his West Bank headquarters, Abbas said he was looking forward to working with the new administration. "Obama has said good words," he told a news conference. "We are waiting and we need to see if this administration is serious on achieving peace within this year."

Abbas also took aim at his Hamas rivals, accusing the group of bringing "destruction" upon the people of Gaza by inviting the Israeli offensive. Israel launched the operation in response to years of Hamas rocket attacks, including heavy barrages in the days before the invasion.

The offensive killed nearly 1,300 people, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $2 billion in damage. The international community is trying to broker a long-term ceasefire and figure out how to rebuild the coastal territory.

In Gaza, the prime minister of the Hamas government said his group would not try to claim any international construction funds. The announcement from Ismail Haniyeh, who remains in hiding because of fears of being assassinated by Israel, appeared directed at donors who concerned their funds could end up in Hamas' hands.

"Our aim now is to ease the suffering of our people and to remove the aftermath of the aggression in Gaza," the statement said. "Therefore we emphasize that we are not concerned to receive the money for rebuilding Gaza and we are not seeking that."

Previous page 1 2 Next Page