Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip, prompting another militant group to suspend rocket attacks. The air strikes came as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fights for his political survival.
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing Mohammed Khalil, a leader of the Islamic Jihad group, several news reports said. In a statement seen by BosNewsLife News Center, the spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Major General Yisrael Ziv, suggested the attacks were part of attempts to "end all threats of firing of qassam rockets into Israeli territory."
He said it was the "aim is to fire into those areas we know to be the source of qassam fire," a reference to Hamas, one of the largest militant groups operating in the area. Earlier Sunday, September 25, Israeli forces arrested over 200 members of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas in the West Bank, several media said.
PALESTINIANS ANGRY
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia has demanded a halt to the Israeli raids. "Really, it is a thing that we cannot understand, and we can say only that Israel wants to kill any attempt to revive the peace process," Qureia told reporters.
However IDF Spokesman Ziv stressed it was "not our intention to hurt innocent civilians, but we are, within our rights, using heavy means in order to put an end to the threat hanging over Sderot and other areas."
He said that following the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after a 38 year presence their, the Palestinian Authority had "no longer the ‘excuse’ of the occupation or other such stories to use as excuses for not taking responsibility" to act against militants.
SUMMIT POSTPONED
The tensions also torpedoed plans for an October 2 summit between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters news agency quoted an Israeli official as saying the meeting was postponed because of rocket firing from Gaza, but Abbas reportedly said "more preparations were needed" for the meeting.
It violence and political tensions came as Israeli Prime Minister Sharon was under pressure to resign. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear Sunday, September 25, that he wants to oust Sharon as Likud party leader to punish him for dismantling 21 Gaza settlements.
"The Prime Minister…has created a Hamas terror state in Gaza," Netanyahu said at a stormy meeting of the hawkish Likud Central Committee. As Sharon stepped up to the podium his microphone went dead. The Prime Minister blamed his opponents for torpedoing his speech, and he walked out of the meeting.
If the Central Committee sets an early date for electing a new leader, Sharon is threatening to leave the Likud and form a more moderate party, news reports said. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Israel).
