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Palestinian killed after rocket fire raises concern over Gaza truce
AFP - Thursday, December 18
GAZA CITY (AFP) - - A Palestinian man was killed during an Israeli air raid on Gaza Wednesday evening that came after rocket fire against Israel, a Palestinian medical official said.
Falak Okel, 47, died and his son and daughter were injured, when a rocket struck their house in Beit Lahya in the north of the Gaza Strip, the same source said.
Witnesses said Okel did not belong to any armed group.
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the air raid and said it targeted people firing rockets.
Gaza militants earlier fired a barrage of rockets at Israel, one of which blew up near a supermarket lightly wounding two people and fuelling concern that violence could flare up as a six-month truce ends this week.
Two people suffered shrapnel wounds and three cars were damaged as one of 19 rockets fired at southern Israel struck outside a supermarket in the often targeted city of Sderot, the army said.
Israeli forces immediately launched an air strike in northern Gaza, hitting a rocket launcher that was about to fire, a military spokeswoman said.
"This requires a reaction, and it will come," warned Israel's interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The escalation "makes us even more convinced there can be no formal truce if it not observed on the ground."
Islamic Jihad said its armed wing, Al-Quds Brigades, fired rockets in retaliation for Monday's killing by Israeli forces of one of its members in the occupied West Bank.
The radical movement had claimed similar attacks on Monday, which prompted two Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
The attacks came just ahead of the conclusion of the six-month ceasefire that went into effect on June 19.
Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules Gaza, has spoken out against extending the Egyptian-mediated truce, but it indicated it has yet to take a final decision.
"Friday, December 19 is the last day of the calm," said Ismail Radwan, a Hamas leader in Gaza, adding that the Islamist movement "will respond to any aggression by the occupying forces against our people."
Israeli officials have said they want to continue the truce but warned that they would not hesitate to use military force should Gaza militants fail to halt rocket and mortar attacks.
Several ministers though have called for a tougher line against Gaza militants, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who hopes to become premier after February 10 elections, has said Israel "cannot allow Gaza to remain in the hands of Hamas."
Since the truce went into effect, Palestinian militants have fired more than 320 mortar rounds and rockets at southern Israel, according to the military.
Following a November 4 surge in violence, Israel has completely sealed off Gaza almost every time rockets or mortar rounds were fired.
The closures prevent the delivery of humanitarian and other supplies which aid agencies say are desperately needed in the impoverished, overcrowded sliver of land crippled by a blockade Israel imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007.
Humanitarian agencies and human rights groups have urged Israel to lift the blockade, saying the 1.5 million population of Gaza should not be punished for the actions of armed militants.
In an opinion sent to attorney general Menahem Mazuz, Israel's legal watchdog group Gisha warned that the restrictions on the passage of people and goods amounted to "a closure imposed for the illegal purpose of collective punishment against innocent civilians."
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who headed to Washington on Wednesday, plans to discuss the situation in Gaza during his talks on Friday with US President George W. Bush.
Abbas "will warn against an Israeli offensive in Gaza and will call for the lifting of the Israeli blockade," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.
The president also called for a continuation of the Gaza truce, although he has had no influence in the territory since his forces were driven out when Hamas seized power.
The situation in Gaza, and the divisions between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah party have further complicated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that have produced no tangible results since they were revived under US auspices in November 2007.
Abbas hopes to rally support for efforts to shield the peace process from a government change in Israel, where right-wing former premier Benjamin Netanyahu leads opinion polls ahead of the February elections.
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution stating its commitment "to the irreversibility of the bilateral negotiations."
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Enlarge Photo
Broken bottles lie on the ground as Israelis stand inside a supermarket after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants landed just outside the store in the southern city of Sderot. Gaza militants on Wednesday fired a barrage of rockets at Israel, one of which blew up near a supermarket lightly wounding two people and fuelling concern that violence could flare up as a six-month truce ends this week.
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