MIDDLE EAST: Ten Palestinians were killed in a second day of heavy Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, as opinion polls showed what the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, will consider a worrying growth in opposition within his own Likud party to his plan to withdraw from Gaza.
Yesterday's fatalities - which included four Palestinian gunmen and three Palestinians said to have been hit by Israeli fire when throwing stones at troops - brought to 15 the number of Palestinians killed in the two days of fighting, on the outskirts of Beit Lahiyah.
Israeli troops have been operating in the area, military officials say, to try and prevent rocket fire by Palestinian at nearby settlements - rocket fire that has increased in the days since Israel killed the Hamas leader, Dr Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, on Saturday. Hamas leaders insist they are planning a wave of revenge attacks on Israeli targets.
The Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, yesterday accused Mr Sharon of deliberately escalating tensions in Gaza. "He has to remember that he has to withdraw not only from Gaza, but also from the West Bank," Mr Arafat added.
On Tuesday, Mr Sharon had vowed to continue to target the heads of terrorist organisations - "we will not let up on them," he said - including in Gaza after a pullout. Israeli officials indicate that Israel would reserve the right to re-enter Gaza to try and prevent bombings and other attacks even after it withdraws soldiers and settlers from the Strip, a process Mr Sharon says he intends to complete by the end of next year. However, it is by no means certain that the Prime Minister's own Likud party - whose entire 200,000-strong membership is being asked to participate in a binding May 2nd referendum on Mr Sharon's "disengagement plan" - will approve the pullout.
Support for the plan was boosted last week when Mr Sharon won endorsement from President Bush and apparent presidential support, too, for permanent Israeli control of parts of the West Bank and the rejection of any "right of return" to Israel for Palestinian refugees.
But a new newspaper poll suggests only a slight lead for the pro-withdrawal camp within the Likud, of 44 per cent to 40 per cent. The ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch movement is campaigning against the withdrawal, because it opposes the evacuation of the 7,500 Gaza settlers.