Israeli raid hits Gaza as Hamas mulls cease-fire

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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A missile from an Israeli aircraft struck a car traveling in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least one Palestinian and further straining a truce with Hamas, even as the Islamist rulers of the Palestinian enclave spoke out in favour of a conditional one-year truce.

The strike came as the militant group sent a delegation to Egypt in hopes of wrapping up a long-term cease-fire to Israel's three-week military offensive that killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza. A day earlier, Israel's prime minister threatened "harsh and disproportionate" retaliation for continued violations of the informal Jan. 18 cease-fire, which has been tested by sporadic Palestinian shelling attacks and Israeli airstrikes.

Despite the renewed violence, Hamas said it is in favour of a one-year cease-fire on condition the impoverished territory's crossings are opened to the outside world. "We agree in principle with a one-year truce," spokesman Fawzi Barhum told Agence France-Presse, but added that Hamas has not ruled out an 18-month truce proposed by the Egyptian mediators. "Whether one year or a year and a half, it must be linked to the opening of all crossing points, including Rafah, and the lifting of the (Israeli) blockade," he added.

Rising violence
In yesterday's airstrike, the Israeli military said it targeted a group of militants who had fired mortar shells at Israel. Palestinian medical officials said a militant in the vehicle was killed, while a second occupant and two bystanders were wounded. The identities of the wounded were not immediately known.

The airstrike took place in Rafah, a town located along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, according to the Associated Press. With Gaza's borders sealed by Israel and Egypt, Rafah has a bustling smuggling trade and Israel frequently targets the area to prevent the flow of weapons into Gaza.

Despite the truce efforts, violence has been rising in recent days. Gaza militants fired at least 10 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel on Sunday, wounding three people. Israel struck back with a series of attacks along the border area and in northern Gaza. The tensions have raised the risk of fresh violence days ahead of Israel's national election.

Also yesterday, Hamas' exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, met with Iran's president in Tehran and thanked the country for its support. Iran's state TV quoted Mashaal as saying Iran played a role in "the victory of Gaza's people."

Israel accuses Iran of supplying weapons to Hamas. Iran denies the charge, saying it supplies only money to the radical Islamic group.

In separate violence yesterday, Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian motorist near the West Bank city of Hebron after coming under fire from the car, the Israeli army said. The army gave no details on the man's condition, but Israeli media said he was killed and had attacked the soldiers to protest Israel's recent Gaza offensive.

However, relatives of the dead man, identified as 27-year-old Taysir Manasra, said he worked as an illegal peddler in Israel and was not connected to militants.

Mideast diplomacy in Paris
France, meanwhile, took center stage on Mideast diplomacy, with President Nicolas Sarkozy hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the new U.S. envoy to the region and the prime minister of Qatar, who has played a prominent role in regional negotiations.

Sarkozy met yesterday with Abbas and PM Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani in an attempt to forge a lasting halt to violence after Israel's recent offensive. President Barack Obama's new Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, met with Sarkozy's chief of staff and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Mitchell met last week with Palestinian officials including Abbas, who is on a European tour that will take him to the EU parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. Abbas' aides said he is trying to drum up European support for a unity government that would include Hamas.