Gaza truce breached

GAZA CITY: Ten days into an uneasy cease-fire, an Israeli soldier was killed yesterday in a land mine attack and a Palestinian farmer was killed in Israeli tank shelling. The violence came on the day new US Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region to find a solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.

Israeli military sources said that the Israeli soldier was killed and three of his comrades were wounded when the mine planted by Palestinians detonated under their army vehicle close to Kissufim Crossing on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip. The blast occurred during routine Israeli patrolling of the border fence. The patrol included three vehicles in an area, which has been the scene of previous attacks.

Palestinian farmer Anwar Al-Breim, 24, was killed by Israeli tank fire shortly afterward and a Hamas fighter and two other Palestinians were wounded in an airstrike, also in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said.

Witnesses also reported that Israeli soldiers crossed into southern Gaza and fired toward a farmhouse, and conducted another incursion further north, taking up positions on rooftops while tanks fired at buildings.

No organization claimed responsibility for the attack on the Israeli patrol, but Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is leading the ruling party in the campaign for the Feb. 10 ballot, said: “I don’t care who fired. Hamas controls Gaza and is responsible for everything that happens. Whenever they fire at me from Gaza, set off a bomb or launch a missile or smuggle (weapons), Israel will respond.�

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said: “This was a grave and unacceptable incident and we will respond.� Hours later Israel shut down the crossing points through which flow the humanitarian aid and other supplies on which the 1.5 million people of Gaza depend.

During Israel’s 22-day war on Gaza, the Jewish state extensively bombed tunnels that Palestinians use to smuggle goods into the territory to beat back an Israeli blockade.

Egypt warned European countries yesterday to think carefully before sending ships to patrol Gaza’s coastal waters to prevent arms smuggling, saying such a move could have significant consequences on ties with Arab states.

The warning by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit came after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain, France and Germany had offered to send warships to monitor and prevent arms smuggling to Gaza and to help consolidate the cease-fire.

Germany, however, said it will not send a warship.

“In my discussions with European foreign ministers yesterday, I warned them and said: ‘You must understand Arab and Muslim feelings,’� Aboul Gheit told a news conference in Cairo, adding that if such a job was needed, the responsibility should be borne by Israel, not Europe.

“I urge you to look and consider this ... because it might have consequences in Palestinian and Arab relations with you,� Aboul Gheit said, speaking after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The minister spoke as US President Barack Obama’s new Middle East envoy arrived in Cairo on a tour to kick off the new administration’s efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

George Mitchell, a former US senator, is due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today at the start of a week-long trip that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France and Britain.

Turkey, meanwhile, mounted pressure on Hamas to lay down arms and engage in peaceful politics. “Hamas should make a decision: Is it going to be an armed organization or a political movement? We advise them to be part of the political process,� Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told the popular Milliyet daily.

The minister spoke amid criticism at home that Ankara acted as a supporter of Hamas during the Gaza War. “We cannot approve of what Hamas is doing, but peace cannot be achieved by ignoring Hamas,� Babacan said in further remarks, published in the liberal Radikal.

With input from Mohamed Mar’i, agencies and slashnews.co.uk