Israelis mount new Gaza raid after strike on Hamas

By Seattle Times news services

AHMAD KHATEIB / GETTY IMAGES Palestinian women grieve as the 14 fighters, killed in an Israeli attack at a Hamas training camp, are buried yesterday in Gaza City.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

GAZA STRIP — Israeli tanks and helicopters swept into the northern Gaza Strip early today, a day after soldiers killed 14 Hamas fighters as they were being trained on a soccer field.

At least 20 tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled toward Beit Lahiya and Jebalya refugee camp in what an Israeli military source called an operation to stop militants from firing home-made rockets at neighboring Israeli towns.

There were no reported injuries in today's incursion, part of a growing spiral of tension that could complicate Israel's plan to evacuate troops and settlers from Gaza by the end of 2005.

Palestinian fighters are determined to claim any Israeli pullout as a victory, but Israel has vowed to smash them first.

Yesterday, Israeli warplanes, tanks and helicopters pounded the Hamas camp on the outskirts of Gaza City, a week after the radical Islamic group carried out two bus bombings in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba that killed 16 Israelis. It was Israel's deadliest single blow against Hamas

But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that the attack just after midnight was not retaliation.

"The action against Hamas was not revenge for the horrible murder in Beersheba," he told a gathering in Jerusalem, "rather, part of our continuous war against terrorism which we will not end until terrorism is stopped."

Unlike the mainstream Palestinian Authority, which wants an independent state alongside Israel, Hamas wants to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic state.

The Israeli military said all those killed were Hamas members who had been learning to make suicide belts, plant explosives, launch rockets, infiltrate Jewish settlements and kidnap soldiers and civilians.

Hamas said last week's bombings were in revenge for Israel's killing of two of its leaders in Gaza earlier this year.
 
Tens of thousands of Palestinians attended the funerals of the 14 Hamas members yesterday, calling for revenge and firing guns into the air. "We will sacrifice our souls and blood for the martyrs," they chanted.

Children stayed home from school, and black smoke billowed over the city as students burned tires in spontaneous demonstrations. Some 30,000 people, including dozens of fighters, joined a funeral procession. As men fired machine guns into the air, the crowd screamed for revenge.

"Our response to this crime is coming, God willing, and our twin attack in Beersheba is only one part of many strikes to come," a Hamas leader shouted over loud speakers mounted on a car.

Later some fighters launched crude rockets and mortar shells into Israel and Jewish settlements in the coastal strip. One man was hurt by a rocket that landed in Israel.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, regarded as a moderate, gave an unusually strong response to the killings of the Hamas fighters. "I'm sure there will be responses and such responses will be justified," he said.

Asked about yesterday's Israeli strike and Palestinian threats to retaliate, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "I don't think they are helpful. ... The situation is very tragic. Retaliation is not a solution to the problems we face in the region."

Also yesterday, Israeli forces cut main Gaza roads in two places, dividing the seaside territory into three parts — a common step following violence. The Israelis say it's a security measure, but Palestinians call it collective punishment.