GAZA CITY — Israel's military has been granted approval to again target
Palestinian insurgents in the Gaza Strip.
Over the last three days, Israel has conducted daily air strikes against
Palestinian operatives involved in missile attacks against the Jewish state.
At least seven operatives were killed in the Gaza Strip since Feb. 4, Middle East Newsline reported.
The air strikes came after a more than two-week suspension of Israeli
air and artillery operations against Palestinian missile gunners. Military
sources said the suspension was meant to prevent a major escalation during
the Palestinian Legislative Council on Jan. 25.
The military ended its suspension of retaliatory strikes against the
Gaza Strip on Feb. 3 when a Kassam-class, short-range missile slammed into
an Israeli home. Four people, including a seven-month-old boy, were injured.
[In a related development, Israel's domestic intelligence chief Yuval
Diskin said he opposed additional unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank.
Diskin told Jewish seminary students that the unilateral withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in September 2005 — termed by the
government "Disengagement" — marked an "uprooting" of thousands of Jewish
residents.]
On Monday, an Israeli aircraft fired two missiles toward a car in the
northern Gaza Strip. Two Fatah commanders were killed, and Israel said they
were involved in missile launches against the Jewish state.
On Feb. 5, an Israeli air strike killed the leading explosive expert of
Islamic Jihad. The operative was identified as Adnan Butan, head of Jihad's
engineering and manufacturing unit, said to produce missiles and rockets.
"Our answer is open war on all Zionists, soldiers and civilians," a
statement by the Fatah-sponsored Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said.
The Israeli response to Kassam strikes remains limited, officials said.
They said the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ruled out a
ground invasion of Gaza or launching artillery strikes against Kassam launch
sites within Palestinian towns and villages.
On Tuesday, two Kassam missiles landed in Israeli communities near the
Gaza Strip and caused damage without injuries. At the same time, Israeli
troops killed the Jihad commander of the West Bank city of Nablus. Two
soldiers were injured in the clash.
