Reuters AlertNet Lite - Hamas carries out first attacks since truce

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Hamas carries out first attacks since truce

19 Mar 2007 22:12:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

Previous | Next

Palestinian Fatah supporters gesture as they celebrate the student council election results at Palestine Polytechnic University in the West Bank city of Hebron March 19, 2007.
REUTERS/ELIANA APONTE

Background

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict

MORE >>

(Adds Solana comments, paragraphs 5-7)

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, March 19 (Reuters) - The armed wing of Hamas said it carried out its first attacks against Israel since a shaky November truce in the Gaza Strip, shooting a utility worker near the border on Monday and firing two mortar bombs at soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office denounced what it called a "terror" attack and said it showed the new Palestinian unity government, dominated by Hamas, was failing to meet Western demands to halt violence and recognise Israel.

Palestinians hope the government that took office on Saturday between Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, will stop fighting between the groups and ease a crippling economic embargo that has increased poverty.

The year-old diplomatic boycott splintered further on Monday when Norway's deputy foreign minister met Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in Gaza and Italy's foreign minister called Haniyeh in a show of support.

The United States said the embargo would remain in place. But Europe's foreign policy chief said he hoped the new government would ultimately meet conditions laid down by world powers for lifting it.

"We expect very much that this government ... will be taking the positions of the quartet as much as possible and in the end completely, (we) will have a total normalization of relations," the EU's Javier Solana said at a Washington news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other European ministers.

The United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States -- the so-called quartet -- demand the new government recognize Israel, renounce violence and agree to Israeli-Palestinian accords.

With the sanctions still in place, tensions between the factions remain high, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

In its first public rift with Fatah since they established their government, Hamas accused Abbas of illegality in naming one of the Islamist group's long-time foes, Mohammad Dahlan, as national security adviser without consulting Hamas.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev accused Norway of "giving legitimacy and recognition to an unreformed extremist". Israel has threatened in the past to shun diplomats who meet members of the Hamas-led government but it was unclear whether the Jewish state would take that step now.

Hamas's Qassam Brigades said the shooting attack, which seriously wounded the Israeli worker near the Karni commercial crossing, and the mortar fire, were in response to Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, which is not covered by the four-month-old truce.

No soldiers were wounded by the mortar fire.

"RESISTANCE"

The Qassam Brigades said attacks against Israel would continue, but the group did not declare a formal end to the truce. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: "Hamas did not and will not stop the resistance."

It was the first attack claimed by Hamas's armed wing since the November truce, which it had upheld. Other groups, such as Islamic Jihad, stayed out of the ceasefire and continued to launch makeshift rockets into Israel from Gaza.

An explosion ripped through an Islamic Jihad member's house near Gaza City on Monday, killing him and wounding at least nine people. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast.

Israel believes Hamas has been taking advantage of the break in fighting to build up its forces and smuggle in an arsenal of rockets that could penetrate deep into Israeli territory.

Olmert has vowed to boycott the new Palestinian government, including non-Hamas ministers, saying its platform does not meet three conditions set by the West last year: that it recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace deals.

The United States said it would continue to boycott the new Palestinian government but did not rule out unofficial talks with non-Hamas ministers. (Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Emergencies

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict

MORE >>

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Israel profile
· View map

• Palestinian territories profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

• Lift boycott on new Palestinian unity government says Christian Aid
Christian Aid - UK

• Upcoming UN report indicates that half of Palestinians are malnourished
WV MEERO - Cyprus

• Youth Wins the Gold!
Children Intl - USA

• Youth Wins the Gold!
Children Intl - USA

• NEF Collaboration with World Food Program Makes Leap in West Bank
NEF - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

• Hamas carries out first attacks since truce

• US toddler improving on experimental smallpox drug

• Toddler improving on experimental smallpox drug

• Aid embargo remains against Palestinians, US says

• Malaria-resistant mosquitoes outbreed others-study

MORE >>

Last updated:Mon Mar 19 22:14:05 2007