GAZA, May 13: Israel killed 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after two ambushes claimed the lives of 11 of its soldiers in the worst blow to the Middle East's mightiest army in two years.
The new spiral of violence sharpened debate between proponents and opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "Disengagement Plan" to evacuate settlers from Gaza, now stalled by rightist hardliners in his own Likud party.
But even Mr Sharon's key allies warned after the ambushes, on Wednesday and Tuesday, that Israelis would not be stampeded out of Gaza. "No one intends to flee Gaza. We will fight terror with all means necessary to provide security for our citizens," Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told a televised news conference.
He backs Mr Sharon's plan and said shortly before the ambushes that putting settlements in Gaza was a "historic mistake". Witnesses said 11 Palestinians, four of them militants, were killed in helicopter missile strikes in Rafah refugee camp, near the area where militants blew up an explosives-packed troop carrier on Wednesday. Five soldiers in the vehicle were killed.
"A helicopter fired missiles at a group of armed militants in two separate incidents at the same spot," an Israeli military source said. Israeli soldiers scoured the sandy strip on their hands and knees for their comrades' remains, sometimes sniffing what they picked up and putting items into clear plastic bags.
Troops also shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian and demolished 10 homes during a push into Rafah, a militant stronghold, witnesses and medics said. Another helicopter fired "deterrent" machinegun rounds at militants gathering on the edge of the camp, military sources said, in what Palestinian residents earlier reported to be another missile strike. Three people were wounded.
On Tuesday, six Israeli troops died when their armoured vehicle struck a landmine during a raid in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood. Militants grabbed the soldiers' body parts, which were scattered over a wide area.
Israeli forces withdrew on Thursday in an Egyptian-mediated deal under which militants returned the men's remains. Palestinian medics said 16 people, militants and bystanders alike, were killed and 185 wounded in the two-day siege of the neighbourhood.
In Brussels, the European Commission decided to send 33 million dollars in humanitarian aid to impoverished Palestinians in light of the upsurge in violence. The money would provide food aid, water and improved ambulance services.
The Palestinian ambushes in Zeitoun and Rafah, recalling tactics used by Hezbollah fighters against Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, dealt the Israeli army its heaviest blow since April 2002, when 13 soldiers were killed in a West Bank ambush.
But Israel's army chief, General Moshe Yaalon, rejected commentators' comparisons with Lebanon, where frequent attacks by Hezbollah created a public groundswell in Israel for a troop withdrawal carried out in 2000 after 22 years of occupation.
"We will act as long as there is terror in the Gaza Strip... and weapons that can threaten (Israeli) communities in the area," he told reporters. Polls show most Israelis see Gaza as a liability that should be abandoned.
Mr Sharon vows to pursue his plan despite its defeat in a May 2 Likud vote that reflected fears Palestinian militants would seize on a unilateral pullout as a victory.
"There is a war against terror, and in that war there are bad days," Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said. He told Israel Radio that Ariel Sharon was reworking his plan to "disengage" from Gaza that would address Likud concerns. -Reuters
