GAZA CITY, Oct 28: Israel launched fresh air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday after its defence minister dismissed the Palestinian leadership as a partner for peace and ruled out any foreseeable prospect of a Palestinian state.

After multiple strikes overnight and repeated sonic booms, the air force carried out three raids on fields used by militants in northern Gaza to fire rockets into Israel.

The militants hit back, firing one rocket and a mortar round into Israel causing no casualties or damage, a day after an Israeli air raid killed six civilians and two Islamic Jihad militants.

In an echo of Israel’s stand against the late Yasser Arafat, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said the current Palestinian leadership was unable to clamp down on militants and therefore no partner for peace.

“I doubt very much that one day we can reach a peace accord with the present leadership of the Palestinians. We must wait for the next generation,” the Yediot Aharonot daily quoted him as saying.

“I don’t think a Palestinian state will see the light of day in the coming years,” he added.

Mr Mofaz, a close ally of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was speaking two days after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis outside a falafel stand in the town of Hadera.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Centre vs provinces
Updated 10 Jun, 2026

Centre vs provinces

The reason the centre finds itself in this position is rooted in its failure to expand the tax net and boost revenues.
Party in crisis
10 Jun, 2026

Party in crisis

THE young KP chief minister must be starting to realise just how thorny a seat he occupies. There has been a flurry...
Varsity woes
10 Jun, 2026

Varsity woes

FINANCIAL crises affecting public sector universities across Pakistan are now having an impact on academic...
Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
Updated 09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

The situation started deteriorating after a trader affiliated with the JAAC was reportedly shot in an altercation with law-enforcers.
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....