Palestinian mortar fire on a nearby Jewish settlement, an Israeli army spokeswoman reportedly said. The raid came as Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, debated Prime Minister Ariel Sharon controversial plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza and four in the West Bank, despite wide spread opposition among far right parties.
Security was tied around the Knesset building, after a leading opposition figure Simon Peres, warned last week that right wing extremists may try to assassinate the prime minister because of his intention to remove the settlers.
"FATEFUL HOUR"
"This is a fateful hour for Israel. We are facing an unprecedented decision," Sharon said to loud heckling from ultra-nationalist lawmakers opposed to his plan, which he promotes as "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians, news reports said.
"You are tearing the nation apart. Go home. You must not expel Jews," Uri Ariel of the ultra-nationalist National Union party shouted at Sharon before being ejected from the chamber, the Reuters news agency reported.
However Sharon has said that pulling out of tiny Gaza by the end of next year would make Israel easier to defend and allow it to seal its grip on larger West Bank settlements.
ISRAELI INCURSION
He also made clear however he wanted to ensure that militants would not be able to claim the withdrawal as a victory, and as he spoke Israeli forces pounded the Khan Younis, using air and ground forces in the incursion, Palestinian sources said.
"The purpose of the operation is to combat the firing of mortar shells," said Maj. Sharon Feingold, speaking in a telephone interview from Tel Aviv with The New York Times news service. "More than 28 were fired on the Gush Katif community since Thursday," she said, adding that no one was wounded or killed in those mortar attacks.
An 11 year old boy and three Palestinian policemen were among the civilians killed in the Gaza raid, Reuters quoted witnesses as saying. Some 8,000 Jews live in fortified enclaves in Gaza among 1.3 million Palestinians. Several Palestinian officials have said that Sharon’s withdrawal plan is only aimed at killing off already deadlocked peace efforts, and will leave Palestinians only with Gaza and scattered parts of the West Bank, for a state.
