Israel presses forward with Gaza offensive
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-28 20:25

Widening its five-day campaign against Palestinian militants, Israel for the first time fired live artillery shells into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and shut down 15 West Bank offices suspected of distributing money to families of suicide bombers, AP reported.

Israeli army gunners stand next to a mobile artillery piece and shells at a staging area near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, just outside the northern Gaza Strip, Sunday Sept. 28, 2005. Widening its five-day campaign against Palestinian militants, Israel for the first time fired artillery shells into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and shut down 15 West Bank offices suspected of distributing money to families of suicide bombers from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. [AP]

In other developments, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and an Israeli Cabinet minister said Wednesday that Israel could withdraw from some parts of the West Bank and annex others to its territory if peace efforts remain bogged down.

The comments by adviser Eyal Arad and Cabinet Minister Tzahi Hanegbi on Israel Army Radio marked the first time two confidants of the prime minister talked in public about the idea of additional unilateral moves by Israel, after the Gaza pullout that was completed in mid-September. Sharon's office said it remained committed to a negotiated peace deal with the Palestinians.

The Israeli strikes were triggered by weekend rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli border towns. Since then, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have announced they would halt attacks, but Israel said it would press ahead with the campaign, including targeted killings of militant leaders.

On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened Hamas leaders Mahmoud Zahar and Ismail Hanieh by name, saying they could be the next targets.

Israel says the strong reaction is necessary to show that new rules are in place following its withdrawal from Gaza, after a 38-year occupation, and that attacks from the area won't be tolerated.

"Terrorism must be rooted out," Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Israel Radio Wednesday.

However, Israel also appears to be seizing an opportunity to deliver a major blow to Hamas, which had been largely off-limits after it agreed in February to abide by an informal truce. Israel has repeatedly demanded that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas disarm Hamas, but Abbas has chosen to co-opt the militants instead.

Hamas charged that Israel is also trying to weaken the group politically before the Palestinian parliament elections in January. Among those rounded up in recent days were dozens of Hamas candidates for parliament and local councils. Hamas is expected to make a strong showing in the parliament vote and in a new round of local elections — the third of four — to be held in more than 100 towns and villages Thursday.

Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas commentator, said that "Israel could weaken Hamas, but not destroy it."

"Hamas now is a political movement, it's a culture, with individuals, institutions, schools, universities and a huge military wing," said Hamad, editor-in-chief of the Hamas weekly, "The Message," published in Gaza.

In a new phase of Israel's offensive, troops closed down 15 offices, including charities linked to local mosques, across the West Bank on Wednesday, the military said. Israel said money for the families of suicide bombers from Hamas and Islamic Jihad and militants jailed by Israel was distributed through these offices.

The military activity came after various Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the ruling Fatah movement, renewed their commitment to a cease-fire, although they also said they reserve the right to retaliate for perceived Israeli truce violations. As the militants were meeting, a rocket landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, causing no damage or injuries, the army said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Capt. Yael Hartmann, a spokeswoman for the Israeli army, called the militants' pledges "meaningless" and said the open-ended military operation would continue.

Israeli Justice Minister Tsipi Livni, meanwhile, called off a meeting with a Palestinian Cabinet minister to protest the kidnapping and killing of an Israeli civilian by Hamas earlier in the week. The captors had released a video of the blindfolded hostages, along with demands that Israel release Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Livni told Israel Radio her scheduled Thursday meeting with minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh, which was to have had been about future releases of Palestinian prisoners, had been put on hold until further notice.

"The Palestinians have to understand that these shocking actions by Hamas only put back the possibility of prisoner releases," she said.

Mofaz pledged Tuesday to step up pressure on the militants, saying a ground invasion into Gaza is possible as a last resort. He spoke as he toured an Israeli artillery battery near Gaza.

"This battery ... is not meant to be decoration. It is operational, within range and it will respond against every firing of a Qassam in real time, and that is to deter," he said.

Later, the army fired live artillery shells into northern Gaza for the first time in what it said was a response to Palestinian rocket attacks. The shells landed in an open area that the army said was used to fire rockets. No casualties were reported.