WORLD> Middle East
Rocket hits Israel, second violation of Gaza truce
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-27 10:32

JERUSALEM -- Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Thursday, further straining a shaky, week-old truce as Israel kept vital Gaza border crossings closed in response.

The rocket attack, the second since the cease-fire took effect, led to a call for retaliation by Israel's Foreign Minister while Palestinians charged that the continued closure of crossings violated terms of the cease-fire.

Despite the breach, Israel dispatched an envoy to Egypt in hopes of negotiating a prisoner swap with Gaza's ruling Islamic Hamas.


With tear gas in the background, an Israeli border police officer, left, argues with a Palestinian demonstrator during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village Nilin, near Modin, Thursday, June 26, 2008. [Agencies]

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, claimed responsibility for firing the rockets Thursday. One exploded harmlessly in a field, the military said, refusing to disclose where the other landed. A statement from the militant group demanded that Israel halt its military operations in the West Bank.

The truce, hammered out by Egypt over months of separate talks with Israel and Hamas, does not include the West Bank. On Tuesday, Islamic Jihad fired three rockets at Israel, wounding two people, linking the attack to an Israeli raid in the West Bank.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it should not matter who was behind the rocket attack.

"I am not interested in who fired and who didn't fire at Israel," she told reporters. "It is a violation, and Israel needs to respond immediately, militarily, for every violation."

Previous truces have come apart quickly because Gaza militants claimed the right to retaliate for Israeli raids in the West Bank.

Since the cease-fire agreement took effect June 19, Israel has responded to rocket attacks by closing crossings rather than retaliating with airstrikes at Palestinian rocket squads, as it did routinely since Hamas overran Gaza a year ago. Closure of the crossings, where vital supplies are shipped into Gaza, restores a blockade that has caused severe shortages.

That hits at the main interest of Hamas -- ending the blockade and easing the hardships facing the people under its control. Hamas officials charged that by restoring the blockade, Israel is violating the truce. Underlining the high level of distrust, Palestinians formed a committee to track Israeli violations.

At a high-level security meeting late Thursday, Israel decided to keep the crossings closed Friday because of the latest rocket attack, defense officials said. A limited amount of fuel will be transferred, they said.

At a meeting Wednesday, Israeli defense officials discussed how to proceed once the crossings are reopened. According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed, Israel might reset the truce clock each time it closes the crossings in response to a Palestinian violation.

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