Israeli strike kills 2 top Palestinian militants

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed two senior Palestinian militants on Friday in an attack that came hours after Hamas militants stepped back from a Palestinian government offer to renew a ceasefire with Israel.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the strike targeted Islamic Jihad militants who were responsible for firing rockets into Israel in recent weeks. An Islamic Jihad source identified the men as senior commanders of the armed group.

Palestinian medics said several civilian bystanders were injured in the strike, the latest in a series of several Israel has launched against militants launching rockets in the past week.

Dozens of Palestinians rushed into a morgue, carrying the dead militant wrapped in a white sheet and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest)!

Earlier, Hamas militants distanced themselves from a ceasefire offer that the Palestinian government led by the Islamist group made to Israel. Other armed groups, including Islamic Jihad, also spurned the proposal.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has increased in the past week. Israel has killed in recent days more than a dozen Palestinians, including militants and civilian bystanders, while militants in Gaza have increased rocket attacks into the Jewish state.

Rocket firings from Gaza have become an almost daily occurrence since Israel quit the territory in September. But Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired about 120 rockets into Israel in the past week alone, the army spokeswoman said.

Hamas's armed wing scrapped a 16-month truce after seven Palestinians died on June 8 in an explosion on a Gaza beach, which the Hamas-led Palestinian government blamed on Israel.

DIFFERENCES

A Palestinian government spokesman made a new truce offer on Thursday in an interview with Israel Radio. But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the man did not speak for the movement. Hamas won control of the government in a January election.

Differences over the truce, which was conditional on Israel stopping anti-Palestinian attacks, could indicate disagreement between the Hamas grassroots and the government over tactics.

"We are not interested in making any offers or proposals," said Sami Abu Zuhri, official spokesman for the Hamas movement.

"When the occupation stops its killings and crimes against our people then the factions may look into the issue in accordance with the interests of our people," he said.

Israel has not commented on the ceasefire offer. Justice Minister Haim Ramon said the military would continue to target Palestinian militants, including Hamas leaders, in air strikes.

The Jewish state regards Hamas, which has carried out about 60 suicide bombings against Israelis since 2000, as a terrorist organisation and along with Washington and the European Union has imposed an economic embargo on its government.

Despite the sanctions, Hamas has rejected Western demands to recognise Israel's right to exist and disarm. Hamas leaders have also recently brought in up to $27 million in cash from foreign donations into Gaza to try to alleviate a financial crisis.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar brought $20 million through an Egyptian border crossing on Wednesday, which Egypt's state news agency MENA said had been donated by Iran. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.