21 May 2007

Israel said on Sunday it would step up strikes against Gaza militant leaders involved in rocket attacks against southern Israel, but stopped short of ordering a wider offensive in the coastal strip. The announcement came as rival Palestinian factions agreed on Sunday to end all hostilities, the head of the Egyptian delegation of mediators announced.

"We have managed by the efforts of all honest people to restore matters to where they were" before the fighting erupted this month, Borhan Hammad, the Egyptian delegation head, said.

"The guarantees this time are that we first implemented it and then we announced it," he said.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said measures would be "accompanied by a diplomatic effort together with the international community" to resolve the tensions.

In the latest Israeli air raids, three Hamas members were killed when their car was bombed overnight, while Israel also hit metal workshops it claims produce makeshift rockets fired on its territory. At least 21 Palestinians, including five civilians, were killed in Israeli attacks since last Wednesday.

Israeli ministers had resolved to "intensify operational steps ... by striking at terrorist infrastructure and those who operate the Qassam attacks," Olmert told reporters, using Hamas' name for the makeshift rockets.

Olmert said military operations would focus on the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants whom he accused of being responsible for an escalation in rocket firings in the past week.

"If these strong steps don't bring about calm, the Cabinet will meet to weigh additional, more drastic steps," he added.

Olmert told public radio at the end of the meeting that there was no "miracle solution" that would end the rocket fire.

"Each solution is complex and can have many consequences and this is why we have chosen a graduated" response, the Israeli premier said.

The latest decision would involve more pinpointed strikes against military leaders of the two militant groups and rocket crews, in a bid to prevent launchings from areas near the Gaza-Israeli border, a political source told Reuters.

In an apparent bow to pressure from world leaders to rein in the violence, Israel's decision stopped short of expanding its military operations into a ground offensive.

Israel has moved an undisclosed number of tanks, armored vehicles and ground forces into areas just inside the Gaza border, raising Palestinian fears of a wider offensive into the territory.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni broached the idea of agreeing to the deployment of international peacekeepers in Gaza, particularly along the Gaza border with Egypt to prevent weapons smuggling, the political source added.

Israel has rejected such ideas in the past, saying foreign intervention could interfere with its security plans.

There was no vote taken on that proposal, and a rightist minister, Avigdor Lieberman, had a counter-suggestion that Israel reoccupy that border zone, known as the Philadelphi route, an idea rejected by most of those present, the source said.

The source quoted Olmert as telling ministers: "There is no ideal solution. Every solution has its disadvantages and complications, but we are going beyond steps that we have decided before."

After the Security Cabinet meeting, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said that Israel would not differentiate between militant and political leaders in its strikes.

"Everyone who deals with terror against us should take cover," he told Channel 2 TV.

Hard-line Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to bolt Olmert's coalition, which would further weaken it, if he didn't step up military action in Gaza. "Either they dismantle Hamas, or dismantle the [Israeli] government," Lieberman said.

About 10 rockets were fired Sunday, four striking in southern Israel, causing no injuries, a military spokesman said.

Israeli operation in Gaza contributed to the calming of internal clashes. "No one would condone fighting one another while the Israelis are shelling Gaza," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Late Sunday, Hamas and Fatah issued a joint statement ordering their gunmen to observe the truce. "We warn all those who commit a violation that they will be held accountable," the statement said.

In Gaza, masked gunmen who had controlled the streets and taken over apartment buildings in the previous week scaled back their presence, and residents who had holed up at home ventured out to stock up on supplies at busy shops.

Children went back to school in time for final exams, and adults returned to work. Residents of Gaza were wary that the fifth truce in a week, albeit the only one actually implemented on ground, would last.

"This truce is nothing but a timeout that gives the two camps a moment of respite and the fighting can resume at any moment," said Adnan al-Khurubi, a doctor, as he returned to work in Gaza City. - Agencies