Middle East

Israel kills 6 militants in foray

(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-20 22:55

Hamas and the allied Popular Resistance Committees said gunmen fired on undercover troops, prompting the army to send six tanks, two armored personnel carriers and a bulldozer to the area.

The army said the entrance of the troops had been planned, was not a broad operation, and was meant to counter militant activity, including arms smuggling.

In the West Bank, two Palestinian militants were killed in a predawn shootout with Israeli troops on an arrest raid on a house near Jenin, residents said. One belonged to Islamic Jihad militant group and the other to a violent Fatah offshoot.

The army said armed men opened fire from the house on troops, who shot back, killing two militants.

Mahmoud Zahar, the man widely believed to be leading Gaza's new Hamas rulers, said his group would be open to a cease-fire with Israel if the army halted its activities there and in the West Bank. He said Hamas was capable of halting the frequent rocket attacks out of Gaza.

"But nobody will be the protector of the Israeli border," he told The Associated Press.

In an attempt to consolidate its power, the West Bank-based government Abbas installed Sunday annulled all decisions made by the previous Hamas government, Information Minister Riyad al-Malki said.

All citizens will be required to change travel documents that serve as passports to papers issued in the West Bank, al-Malki said _ a ruling in effect invalidating documents previously issued in Gaza. And security personnel will be deployed in force in the West Bank to restore law and order, he added.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Abbas convened a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization's powerful 120-member Central Council and planned a nationwide speech.

"The main reason for the meeting is to bring down the military coup in Gaza," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, spokesman for Fatah.

About 200 Gazans, petrified by the chaos in the strip, have been camped out for six days in a tunnel reeking of trash, urine and sweat on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing with Israel, pleading with Israeli authorities to grant them safe passage to the West Bank.

On Wednesday, Barak instructed officials to let in "humanitarian cases" at the crossing, the Defense Ministry said. No numbers were specified.

Saeb Erekat, a confidant of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said Israel agreed to transfer 55 people to Israeli hospitals. Military spokesman Shlomo Dror would not confirm that number.

Military officials, who have said militants might try to squeeze through the passage, say not everyone in the tunnel is in danger. Israel, which has sophisticated weapons screening equipment in place at Erez, is only letting through the staff of international organizations and people with special permission.

But the humanitarian cases are being processed too slowly, the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights contended in a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court.

Ran Yaron, a doctor with the group, told Israel Radio the lives of 15 of the patients represented in the petition were in danger because treatment was not available in Gaza. Among them was an 18-year-old woman with lupus and a child suffering from cancer.

"Israel has a responsibility since it closed the ... crossings," Yaron said. "It has the responsibility to find a solution for these patients."

Military liaison official Shadi Yassin said Hamas' takeover of Gaza deprived Israel of its main contact on humanitarian issues _ Fatah-allied Palestinian police.

"Now, we don't have this contact, and are trying in every way to obtain information from the Red Cross about sick people whose transfer to Israel must be coordinated," Yassin said.

The Red Cross coordinated the transfer on Tuesday of seven Gazans wounded in internal strife, and hoped to arrange the transfer of six- to nine more on Wednesday, Red Cross spokesman Bernard Barrett said.

The U.N. World Food Program, meanwhile, began bringing in 225 metric tons of food into Gaza through Israel, in addition to 200 metric tons of food and medical supplies it sent in on Tuesday.

"There is a serious humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza as a result of the recent turmoil and closure of the border crossings," said Arnold Vercken, WFP director in the Palestinian territories.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs warned in a report Wednesday that the reopening of Karni, the main cargo passage between Israel and Gaza, "is vital to prevent general food shortages in 2-4 weeks."

Israel also allowed in all foreign nationals in Gaza. Buses brought over some 90 Ukrainians, Yassin said, and Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency reported the evacuation of 69 Russian and seven Belarusian citizens was completed.

In Washington on Tuesday, U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed support for Abbas at a high-profile news conference.

Olmert and Abbas will meet next week, Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo told Palestinian radio Wednesday. Olmert's office confirmed the two would meet but said a date had not been set.

On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni telephoned Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the new Cabinet Abbas installed after expelling Hamas from its governing coalition with Fatah.

"The establishment (of the new government) facilitates progress on ... the peace process," a Foreign Ministry statement quoted Livni as saying.

Al-Malki characterized the conversation as "positive" and said, without elaborating, that it would be followed up by another phone call "to reach a quick and useful solution to all of the issues that need coordination with the Israeli side."

Hamas has found itself increasingly isolated diplomatically since its Gaza takeover, and has begun speaking publicly about dialogue with Fatah.

Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said Wednesday that Cairo had invited the Islamic group for talks with Fatah, and that Hamas "welcomed" the invitation. There was no immediate response from Fatah, but an Abbas aide said Tuesday that dialogue with Hamas would be impossible until the group restored power to the legitimate government.