Tensions high as Hamas fires rockets into Israel

Attacks called revenge for deaths of 11

Rockets were fired from Gaza into the Israeli city of Nahal Oz yesterday. Hamas leaders said that while they wanted to continue the five-month-old truce with Israel, it seemed that Israel did not, and if that was the case, Israel would pay the consequences. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

JERUSALEM - Tensions between Hamas, the radical Palestinian ruler of Gaza, and Israel increased markedly yesterday after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel, sending 18 Israelis to the hospital with shock and mild injuries.

Hamas officials said the attack was revenge for the deaths over the past 11 days of 11 militants and the recent increased Israeli closure of Gaza crossings. Hamas leaders said that while they wanted to continue the five-month-old truce with Israel, it seemed that Israel did not, and if that was the case, Israel would pay the consequences.

Israeli officials, who say they have been keeping the crossings into Gaza shut in retaliation for the rockets, thereby greatly decreasing the supply of supplies and fuel, said Hamas was the one to break the truce.

Senior Israeli officials met in Tel Aviv yesterday and vowed not to back down from any provocation.

Nearly 20 rockets were fired into southern Israel yesterday, including four Grad-type Katyushas that landed in Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 people about 17 miles north of Gaza, the Associated Press reported. One woman in the town of Sderot was lightly injured by shrapnel.

It was the first time Hamas rockets have reached Ashkelon in the current fighting.

The foreign-made Katyushas have a longer range than the homemade rockets usually fired by militants.

The confrontations, after five months of relative calm, began to spike earlier this month when the Israeli military destroyed a tunnel being dug toward Israel. The army feared that the tunnel would be used to seize an Israeli soldier as a bargaining chip, as was Corporal Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas for more than two years.

The Israelis said that was an isolated attack, not a violation of the cease-fire agreed to in June, and asked Egypt to pass that message to Hamas in advance. But six Hamas militants were killed during the tunnel's destruction, leading Hamas to retaliate with rockets, which led to more closures and operations and then more rockets.

There are several factors at work beyond the tit-for-tat of the past week and a half. Hamas, which took over Gaza in June 2007 by kicking out its Fatah rivals, is feeling increased pressure because hundreds of its men have been arrested by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in recent weeks.

The arrests have been part of increased Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in which US-trained Palestinian troops are moving into West Bank cities, leading to some pullback by Israeli troops.

A second factor is that Egyptian efforts to broker a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have foundered, with Hamas alleging that Fatah had not made good on a mutual prisoner release.

Finally, under US and Israeli pressure, Egypt has started to destroy or shut tunnels into southern Gaza that have been a key source of supplies and fuel - and weapons - that have offset the Israeli closures. As a result, Hamas is now feeling besieged not only by Israel but by Fatah and Egypt as well.

A campaign against Fatah started on Hamas television in Gaza two days ago, with a countdown of the days until the legal term ends for Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Abbas has said he will stay in power an extra year but Hamas is trying to pressure him to step down.

A large demonstration was also held Thursday in Gaza demanding the release of Hamas prisoners in the West Bank.

Israel has come under criticism for shutting off supplies to Gaza in the past 10 days.

Oxfam International issued a statement yesterday calling on the world to force Israel to end the closure.

"As a matter of humanitarian imperative, Israeli leaders must resume supplies into Gaza without further delay," said Jeremy Hobbs, the executive director of Oxfam International. "If Israelis and Palestinians alike don't exert every effort now to maintain the truce which has held since last June, the result could be catastrophic for civilians both in Gaza and in nearby Israeli towns."

Electricity production has plunged for lack of fuel, leaving much of the coastal strip darkened. Israeli officials suspect there is actually enough fuel, and say that Hamas officials are trying to embarrass them by closing electricity plants.

The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was scheduled to last for six months, meaning it has another month to go. Both sides are saying they are examining their options as the date approaches.