KEREM SHALOM (Israel), Jan 9: Two Palestinian guerillas stormed an Israeli army post in southern Israel on Wednesday, killing four soldiers before they were shot dead in an attack that shattered the longest lull in 15 months of conflict.
The Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades of the Hamas claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn attack, which dealt a new blow to US-led efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire.
The group said in a statement Israel’s seizure of a shipload of arms, which Israel said were intended for the Palestinians, was a factor behind the decision to attack the army post at Kerem Shalom, a village near the border with Gaza and Egypt.
Israel’s security cabinet met but did not immediately say how Israel would respond. It has retaliated for some past attacks by launching air strikes against Palestinian security targets and sending tanks rolling into Palestinian-ruled areas.
Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces took over a marine police post near Khan Younis, in the central Gaza Strip, following the attack.
Wednesday’s raid by the two men, armed with grenades and assault rifles, was the most serious violence in the region since Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Dec 16 call to end attacks on Israelis.
Hamas, which has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings since the start of the uprising against Israeli occupation in Sept 2000, said last month it was suspending attacks inside Israel following Arafat’s appeal.
The four dead soldiers were bedouin Arab volunteers in the Israeli army.
Residents of Kerem Shalom said they had huddled in their homes and shut off their lights so as not to be seen after the attack, waiting to hear all was clear.
A small group of Israelis arrived just last August to rebuild a debt-riddled kibbutz, or collective farm, behind the barbed fencing that envelops Kerem Shalom.
ATTACK CONDEMNED: The Palestinian Authority condemned the assault and said it feared Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would use the incident as “an excuse to continue his military escalation and siege against our people”.
European Union policy chief Javier Solana said the attack occurred “at a time when we all noticed a significant reduction of violence and a serious effort to fight against terror”.
Solana made his comments in Egypt, on the last leg of a Middle East tour to build on US efforts for a lasting truce.
But the Qassam brigades said they had decided to retaliate for Israeli incursions, killings of Palestinians and “the piracy of capturing the ship...and dragging it to the rapist entity”.
Israel seized the Karine-A in the Red Sea about 500kms from its shores last Thursday.
ISRAELI BEDOUIN KILLED: The Israeli army said the officer and three soldiers killed at Kerem Shalom were members of a bedouin border patrol unit. Israeli bedouin soldiers usually serve as trackers and are adept at spotting signs of frontier infiltration.
“Two terrorists crossed the (Gaza) border fence into Israeli territory, threw grenades and opened fire...On the bodies of the terrorists, who wore uniforms, two Kalashnikov rifles and additional grenades were found,” the army said.—Reuters
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