Israeli Cabinet votes to seek truce with militants in Gaza
Unrest continues with the killings of 4 Palestinians
JERUSALEM - The Israeli Security Cabinet voted yesterday to pursue an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, but it left open the possibility of a military offensive if the truce talks fail.
"The Security Cabinet decided this morning to support Egyptian efforts to achieve calm in the south and end the daily targeting of Israeli civilians by the terrorists in Gaza," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. "In parallel the Security Cabinet instructed the military to continue its preparations in the unfortunate event that the Egyptian track should prove to be unsuccessful."
The decision, which came after hours of deliberations, was noncommittal and essentially left the Israelis in waiting mode despite public pressure for immediate action - one way or the other - to halt Palestinian rocket and mortar fire into southern Israel.
Violence continued, however, with militants firing mortars from Gaza and four Palestinians reported killed, including a young girl, in subsequent Israeli strikes. An Israeli man was wounded when a mortar shell hit a factory on the Israeli side of the border, according to the army. An Israeli worker was killed when a mortar shell struck the same factory last week.
The Palestinian girl, identified as Hadeel al-Smari, was hit by a tank shell in the backyard of her home near the border fence east of Khan Yunis, one of her relatives told the Associated Press. Two militants and a Palestinian civilian were also killed in Israeli strikes, according to the AP.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that the army had fired at squads that were shooting rockets and mortars. She said that the army had no knowledge of a girl having been killed, but that if a child was hit, it was because the militants were operating in a populated area. "We only aim at armed men," the spokeswoman said.
Israel carries out frequent air and ground strikes and small-scale incursions into the small coastal territory to try to contain the rocket and mortar fire that has killed four Israeli civilians this year.
Many say they believe that a broad military offensive is inevitable; Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak both threatened last week that one was close. But for now, the preference is for the Egyptians to try to broker a cease-fire that fulfills Israeli conditions.
Those include a total cessation of all attacks from Gaza, an end to arms smuggling into the territory, and some progress toward the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli corporal who was captured and taken to Gaza in June 2006.
Hamas has demanded an end to Israeli military operations in Gaza and an easing of the yearlong economic blockade of the territory as part of any cease-fire deal.
Israeli officials say that some sanctions could be lifted once there is calm.
There is concern in Israel that Hamas would exploit a truce period to build up its ability to conduct attacks.
Of the 12 voting members of the Security Cabinet, eight were in favor of pursuing the cease-fire option and four abstained. One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if there is to be a broad military operation, officials want to be able to say that they exhausted all other options first.
But expectations are not high on the Israeli or the Palestinian side. "Even those who support the calm say it would only last a month or two, and then Hamas will violate it," said Haim Ramon, an Israeli vice prime minister.
In Gaza, a spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that the Israelis "are preparing for a large-scale attack on Gaza, and that makes any talk about giving calm a chance unserious and unreal."
