Israel vows 'crushing' response to attacks
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-24 19:55

Israel ordered ground forces to the Gaza border Saturday and threatened a "crushing" response after Israeli towns were hit by the first major Hamas rocket barrage from the coastal territory since Israel's pullout two weeks earlier.

Israel also resumed airstrikes against Hamas targets, hitting several suspected weapons workshops, and imposed a blanket closure that bars all Palestinians from its territory.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called his Security Cabinet for a meeting later Saturday to approve the military's response, expected to last several days. A large-scale operation appeared unlikely but the timing of the Cabinet meeting suggested a sense of urgency.

The Cabinet session comes as Sharon faces a major leadership challenge in his Likud Party this week over the Gaza pullout. Sharon's challenger, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned the withdrawal will endanger Israel. The barrage of 39 rockets, with five Israelis hurt, could give him a boost against Sharon.

The escalation was set off by an explosion Friday at a Hamas rally in the crowded Jebaliya refugee camp that killed at least 15 Palestinians. Witnesses said the blast went off near a pickup truck carrying Hamas militants and homemade rockets.

Hamas blamed Israel and said it fired rockets on Israeli border towns in retaliation. However, the Palestinian Authority described the explosion as an accident that happened when Islamic militants mishandled explosives and renewed demands that armed groups stop flaunting their weapons.

Under an informal agreement between the Palestinian Authority and armed groups, a ban on displaying weapons was to take effect later Saturday. Hassan Yousef, a Hamas leader, said the group would abide by the ban. "There will be no military parades in the streets and Hamas weapons will go into the shadows," he said.

The exact number of casualties remained unclear Saturday. Doctors at two Gaza hospitals said they had 15 bodies in their morgues and treated 83 wounded. The Palestinian health ministry counted 17 dead and 140 wounded, with the higher toll possibly due to double registration during the initial chaos.

About 10,000 mourners attended prayers for 10 of the dead at a Jebaliya mosque Saturday. After the ceremony, the crowd split into three processions, with Hamas holding a separate march for four of its dead. Gunmen shot in the air, and women watching from balconies threw rice into the crowd.

The deadly rally appeared to put Hamas on the defensive for the first time since the Israeli pullout, and gave Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas greater leverage to enforce the weapons ban.

The Islamic militants had taken center-stage after Israel's withdrawal, holding military-style victory parades, and many Palestinians endorsed the militants' claim that they had driven Israel out by force.

However, Israel's reprisals caused new hardships for Palestinian civilians, who might blame Hamas.

Israel's open-ended closure of the West Bank and Gaza, imposed Saturday, means thousands of Palestinian laborers won't be able to get to jobs in Israel. Many Gazans had also hoped for a return to calm after Israel's pullout, and might not be willing to put up with a new era of airstrikes.

Abbas, meanwhile, is under growing pressure to stop the rocket fire, with Israel demanding he deploy his troops in northern Gaza, the favored rocket launching ground. This could force Abbas into confrontations with Hamas that he has been trying to avoid.

Mofaz met with the army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, and the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, on Saturday. "We have to make it clear to the Palestinians that Israel will not let the recent events pass without a response," Mofaz said in a statement, referring to the Hamas rocket fire. "The response needs to be crushing."

He ordered large numbers of ground forces to deploy on the border of northern Gaza. Security officials said thousands of soldiers have been called up.

In Gaza City, loud booms were heard around midday Saturday, as Israeli warplanes flew overhead, emitting white smoke. Frantic Palestinians ran for cover, but no casualties were reported. Palestinians accused Israel of launching "fake" airstrikes to terrify the Palestinian population.

Friday's explosion brought a terrified end to one of the last victory rallies by armed militants celebrating Israel's Gaza pullout. Abbas' ruling Fatah movement canceled a final rally it had planned for Saturday.