JERUSALEM, Nov 22: Israel on Wednesday authorised military operations against Hamas institutions and targeted killings of those behind `terrorist attacks’ in a bid to counter Palestinian rocket fire.
The decision in principle to close in on the Islamist group, which heads the internationally boycotted Palestinian government, came as two Hamas militants were killed and an Israeli soldier was wounded in clashes in northern Gaza.
In a meeting chaired by beleaguered Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israel’s powerful security cabinet backed military operations against Hamas institutions in Gaza and targeted operations against anyone involved in `terrorist attacks’.
The cabinet also decided to continue diplomatic efforts with Egypt and the wider international community to stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip and the `strengthening of terrorism’ in the territory.
Nevertheless, security chiefs appeared to have ruled out a wider ground offensive in the Gaza Strip for the time being, ordering the army only to prepare for such a stepped up offensive and to submit plans for approval.
“The Israeli security cabinet decides to continue target killing operations against any element involved in terrorist attacks as well as military operations against Hamas institutions in the Gaza Strip,” the cabinet said.
“The objectives will be authorised by the prime minister and the defence minister (Amir Peretz),” an official statement added.
Olmert and Peretz, his more dovish coalition partner, have reportedly been at loggerheads recently over a widening policy gulf because of the continuing violence that previous military operations have proved powerless to stop.
Israel launched a massive crackdown on Hamas in June, arresting dozens of elected officials and bombing government ministries and militant strongholds after its armed wing claimed part responsibility for capturing a soldier.
Hamas's armed wing has claimed numerous rocket attacks on Israel, including strikes in which two Israelis have been killed in the past week -- the first such deadly attacks since last year's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The Islamist movement has withstood massive pressure from the West and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to recognise Israel and abide by past peace agreements, in order for a crippling aid boycott to be lifted.
Rockets fired by militants inside the radicalised territory have become a persistent menace since Israel's landmark pullout after a 38-year occupation, with civilians in border communities living in constant fear of attack.
A mother and a factory worker were killed in the town of Sderot within a week, the first such deaths since the pullout, bringing to 10 the number of people to be killed by such attacks on Israel since the intifada began in 2000.
“We need simultaneously to strengthen protection against rocket fire, strike the terrorists punctually, develop technological ways (to intercept rockets) and search for a political solution,” Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said.
Three rockets exploded inside Israel on today causing no casualties although one fell close to a primary school in Sderot, an army spokeswoman said.
In the Gaza Strip, two Hamas militants were killed by Israeli fire in the north as Israel pressed ahead with offensives in an effort to lessen rocket attacks.
Six other Palestinians, including a child, were wounded by Israeli tank fire, Palestinian medical sources said, and a soldier was evacuated to Israel in a serious condition after a Palestinian anti-tank rocket attack.
The armed wing of Hamas also claimed to have fired three rocket-propelled grenades at a house in Beit Hanun commandeered by the Israeli military.
More than 300 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza since Israel launched an offensive in late June aimed at recovering a soldier seized by militants, including some from Hamas, and countering rocket attacks.
Meanwhile, Olmert aides Yoram Turbowicz and Shalom Turjeman were to meet Rafiq Husseini and Saeb Erekat, advisors to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.—AFP
