Israeli helicopters swooped down Friday evening on a car carrying a Hamas activist, killing him and injuring 32 bystanders in what Israeli officials are calling a war without compromise against the militant Palestinian group.
Three hours later, helicopters fired missiles at a building just a block from the home of Hamas founder Sheik Amed Yassin. There was no immediate report of casualties.
The attacks were the sixth and seventh in four days against Hamas, which has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis since the outbreak of fighting nearly three years ago.
“As a government responsible for the security of its citizens, we must wage a war to the bitter end, because no one else, at least at this stage, will do it,” Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim told Israeli army radio.
Other officials have used similar language in recent days.
Against the backdrop of heightening violence, the Bush administration has dispatched envoy John Wolf to the region, along with monitors to oversee efforts to implement the U.S.-backed peace plan known as the “road map.” The administration urged both sides to show restraint in a week that has also seen Palestinian militant attacks, including the killing of 17 Israelis on a crowded bus in downtown Jerusalem.
Israel TV reported that Dov Weisglass, a senior aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was flying to Washington for talks with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
In all, 36 Palestinians and 24 Israelis have been killed since President Bush launched the peace plan at a Mideast summit last week.
The Gaza Strip death of Fuad Ledawi, described by the Israeli military as an important field activist for Hamas, was the latest “targeted killings” of Palestinian militants.
The Israeli missiles hit Ledawi’s car and killed him as he was riding in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. At the time, the street was crowded with worshipers walking to a nearby mosque for evening prayers. Three of the 32 wounded were in critical condition.
“I wanted to escape but I was hit by something hot in my legs,” said Mohammed Rashid, 14, who was walking nearby. “I couldn’t hear anything … and then our neighbor came and took me to the hospital.”
The Israeli campaign began in the Gaza Strip with an unsuccessful helicopter missile strike Tuesday against Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior leader of Hamas who escaped with moderate injuries.
The next day, an 18-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber blew up the Jerusalem bus, killing himself along with 17 others and wounding 80 more.
In the days since the attack on Rantisi, five other Hamas activists have been killed, all while traveling in their cars in Gaza City. At least a dozen Palestinian bystanders have been killed, and scores have been injured.
Hamas won’t roll over
Hamas has threatened to continue attacks against Israelis, warning foreigners about its pledge to step up the violence.
“This comprehensive Zionist escalation will push the Palestinian people to defend themselves by all available means and capabilities,” said Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniya. “As long there is aggression and assassination against the Palestinian people, they have a right to strike out.”
With Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas out of the country for medical treatment for what aides described as an eye problem, Yasser Arafat was taking an increasingly active role, holding security consultations Friday at his bombarded headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Some of the Israeli strikes this week were said to be aimed at neutralizing the group’s ability to fire homemade rockets into Israel. But in a gesture of defiance, two more rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip toward Israeli towns on Friday, causing some property damage but no injuries.
Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Palestinians to exercise “restraint” and called Middle East leaders, including the foreign minister of Syria, asking all to use their influence to halt terrorist attacks by Palestinian militants.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for an armed peacekeeping force to separate Israel from the occupied territories, a proposal the Bush administration quickly rejected.
A day earlier, Powell had called for “restraint” by the Israeli government. But amid an outcry from congressional Democrats and U.S. supporters of Israel, he declined to repeat those remarks and instead called on the Palestinians to halt their terror campaign.
“All of our efforts are focused on Hamas and persuading Hamas and Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations that this is the time to abandon terror,” Powell said Friday.
“We are anxious to see restraint and we understand that it’s important to get the terror down,” he said. “If the terror goes down, then the response to terror will no longer be required.”
Stopping the violence
In his phone conversations, Powell asked each leader, “What can you do, what can each of the parties do, what can we do to stop the violence?” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Despite the administration’s refusal to criticize Israel on Friday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Israeli response must not endanger the Bush-sponsored peace plan.
“Israel has to remember, as it fights terror, its obligations to preserve the overall road map and peace process,” he said. “But no one has said or [is] suggesting that terrorists should be ale to get away with killing, and do so with impunity.”
Fleischer was careful to distinguish between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas, whom he praised for efforts to rein in militants.
“The issue is not Israel. The issue is not Prime Minister Abbas. The issue is not the Palestinian Authority. The issue is the terrorists–Hamas and others,” he said.
Though the Israeli government insists its attacks are the only way to stamp out militant violence, an opinion poll suggested the new policy is unpopular. Sixty-seven percent of 501 respondents said Israel should halt targeted killings, at least for a while, to allow Abbas to strengthen his shaky position and act against the militants. The poll was published in Yediot Ahronot.
In the past 32 months of fighting, Israel has killed more than 100 wanted Palestinians in targeted attacks, including many from Hamas. The group’s top political leaders were largely left alone, possibly because of Israel’s fear of a bloody backlash.
But after Hamas’ rejection of a cease-fire, the group’s leaders were marked for death, one Israeli security official said Friday. The leadership is considered “ticking bombs” and therefore legitimate targets, the official said.
