MIDDLE EAST: Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a one-storey building in Gaza City yesterday in another assassination strike, killing two Islamic Jihad men just hours after the security cabinet decided to step up targeted killings of militants and to send more troops into the Gaza Strip for what officials said would be a limited-scale but sustained ground operation, writes Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem
There were also reports last night that large numbers of Israeli troops, tanks and armoured vehicles were massing on the border with Gaza. Many in the strip stocked up on food yesterday, fearing a strong Israeli response to the double suicide attack on Sunday at a port in Ashdod that killed 10 people. Many militants, fearing they might be targeted, went into hiding.
Sunday's suicide bombing, carried out by two 18-year-olds from Gaza, was the first time since the start of the intifada in September 2000 that Palestinians had succeeded in infiltrating Israel from the strip and perpetrating an attack. Gaza is surrounded by a closely-guarded fence.
The two men killed in yesterday's missile strike were identified as Nidal Salfiti and Shadi Muhana, of the Islamic Jihad. Hospital officials said a two-year-old girl was one of three people badly injured in the aerial attack. Another 11 people were hurt.
The army said the dead men were "Islamic Jihad terrorists, involved in attacks against Israelis". Islamic Jihad leaders said the target of the strike, Mohammed Harubi, a senior commander, had escaped with light injuries. The building was destroyed in the attack.
Militants vowed to fight Israel, while political leaders called for an end to the cycle of violence. Palestinian Cabinet Minister Mr Saeb Erekat accused the Israel Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, of freezing negotiations and unleashing "missiles and tanks, still believing the problem can be solved through military solutions. We call on him to return to negotiations, because only this will end the violence."
A government spokesman said Israel was left with no choice but to "take strong defensive measures against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad".
The prime minister has outlined a series of unilateral measures he says will be taken in the absence of any political movement. This includes the evacuation of most, and possibly all, of the settlements in Gaza, and a small number in the West Bank.
Mr Sharon, along with many in the military, believes Israel's rushed withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 created the impression in the Arab world that the Jewish state was vulnerable, and ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the intifada.
At a roadblock south of the West Bank city of Nablus, meanwhile, soldiers on Monday discovered an explosive device in a bag on a cart being driven unwittingly by a 10-year-old Palestinian boy. Abdullah Quran, who makes a living transporting bags from one side of the checkpoint to the other, was released after soldiers determined he did not know what was in the bag.