Flare up greets US Mideast envoy

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy began the new administrations first mission to the troubled region yesterday as an Israeli soldier was killed by a bomb on the border with the Gaza Strip and troops then killed a Palestinian, in a violence that strained the cease-fire.

Israeli soldiers briefly crossed the border in search of the attackers, and Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, called an urgent meeting of Israel's security chiefs, saying Israel "cannot accept" the attack. "We will respond, but there is no point in elaborating," Barak said, according The Associated Press.

Neither the ruling Hamas Islamist movement nor its smaller allies in Gaza claimed responsibility for the attack on the patrol, but, some hours later, a senior militant from the Hamas-allied Popular Resistance Committees, or PRC, was wounded, along with a bystander, in an Israeli airstrike, militants and medics said. The missile targeted the man as he was riding a motorcycle.

"I don't care who fired," said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is leading the ruling party in the campaign for the Feb. 10 ballot. "Hamas controls Gaza and is responsible for everything that happens. Whenever they fire at me from Gaza, set off a bomb or launch a missile or smuggle (weapons), Israel will respond," Reuters news agency quoted Israeli FM as saying.

The incident jolted the calm that has largely prevailed since Israel ended a devastating three-week offensive on Jan. 17. Since withdrawing its troops, Israel has threatened to retaliate hard for any violations of the truce. The flare up came as Gazans struggle to resume normal life after the fighting, and as international donors discuss how best to help the territory rebuild.

Hamas praises attack
Although not claiming responsibility, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri praised the bomb attack on the troops as "a natural response to the crimes of the occupier". Two Palestinians were killed last week in incidents blamed on Israeli fire.

Israel said that in response to the attack it shut down the crossing points through which flow the humanitarian aid and other supplies on which the 1.5 million people of Gaza depend.

The deadly incidents came as U.S. President Barack Obama's new Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, arrived the region for his first visit. Obama instructed Mitchell, who played a prominent role in the Northern Ireland peace process, to "engage vigorously" to achieve real progress between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mitchell, a former U.S. senator, is due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on today at the start of a week-long trip that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Britain. Egypt has been holding separate talks with Israeli and Hamas officials, as well as with representatives of other Palestinian militant groups. Egyptian FMAhmed Abul Gheit said yesterday the talks have "evolved positively," and that a "permanent" Gaza truce could be agreed in the first week of February.

Cairo has proposed that the truce between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza begin on Feb. 5, an official from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine told Agence France-Presse.

"The truce will encompass the opening of passages (into Gaza) and will be between Israel and the five main Palestinian factions," he said.