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Four Palestinian Militants Killed in Israeli Airstrikes Four Palestinian Militants Killed in Israeli Airstrikes
(about 7 hours later)
JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants from Gaza fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel overnight and Wednesday morning, critically wounding two Thai workers in an Israeli border community, the Israeli authorities said. Four Palestinian militants in rocket-launching squads were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian officials. JERUSALEM — A surge in violence on Wednesday across the Israel-Gaza border prompted strong warnings from Israeli leaders that if pushed, Israel would act more forcefully against militants in Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave.
The surge in cross-border violence came hours after a landmark visit to Gaza by the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who pledged $400 million for projects there. It also came as a major American-Israeli joint military exercise was under way in Israel, underlining the volatility and potential for escalation in the area at a delicate time before the American elections in November and Israeli elections scheduled for January. Palestinian militants fired more than 60 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel overnight and early Wednesday, hitting several houses and wounding three Thai workers, two critically, in an Israeli border community, according to the Israeli military. Israel carried out several airstrikes against rocket-launching squads, killing four militants, Palestinian officials said. Three of the four belonged to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza.
Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, warned on Wednesday that Israel would not be deterred from carrying out action required to restore quiet in the south. The rocket fire began hours after a landmark visit to Gaza by the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas took full control there in 2007. It also came as a major American-Israeli joint military exercise was under way in Israel, underlining the volatility in the area at a delicate time before the American elections, in less than two weeks, and Israeli elections, scheduled for January.
“If a ground operation will be necessary, there will be a ground operation,” he told Israel Radio. “Nobody is eager for this but we will act, as we are required to stop this wave and to increase the effectiveness of the operation.” The Israeli government has come under increasing criticism from residents of southern Israel who have been forced into protected spaces and bomb shelters during repeated bouts of cross-border violence.
The emir was the first head of state to visit the Gaza Strip since Hamas, the Islamic militant group, took full control of the coastal enclave in 2007, and the gesture was hailed by Hamas as an important breach of the political and economic blockade that has kept Gaza largely isolated. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, and his defense minister, Ehud Barak, paid separate visits to the south on Wednesday.
But early on Wednesday Israel closed the Erez crossing point, the gateway for individuals and aid workers passing between Israel and Gaza, and the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing for goods, citing the danger from rocket fire. Maher Abu Sabha, the director of crossings in Hamas-run Gaza, said that a Hamas police checkpoint near Erez, at the northern end of the territory, was evacuated after an officer was injured by shells that landed there. “We neither chose nor initiated this escalation,” Mr. Netanyahu said during a visit to a battery of Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket missile system near the southern city of Ashkelon. “But if it continues we are prepared for much more extensive and deeper action.”
A medical spokesman in Gaza also said that the Israeli strikes had wounded seven people, some of them seriously. The latest round of violence appears to have started over the weekend. Both sides refrained from any actions during the hours of the emir’s visit, but on Tuesday morning, hours before his arrival in Gaza, an Israeli officer was severely wounded in a blast from an explosive device placed by Palestinian militants along the border. Mr. Barak said, “Hamas will receive its punishment for what has happened here.” He added, “We do not intend to allow the continued violation of normal life in the south of Israel.”
The renewed violence and the temporary closure of the crossings was a stark reminder of the difficulties that Gaza has in attracting investment, and of the significance of the gesture by the emir, whose infusion of aid is earmarked for the building of two housing complexes, the rehabilitation of three main roads and for a prosthetic center, among other projects. But Israeli analysts said that neither side seemed to want a major conflict. Mr. Barak also said that Israel would “continue to work with patience and levelheadedness.”
Gaza suffered widespread destruction during Israel’s three-week military offensive in the winter of 2008-2009, which came after years of persistent rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel. Reconstruction has been a painstaking business. Israel still imposes tight restrictions on the import to Gaza of building materials for fear that they could be used by Hamas for the manufacture of weapons or fortifications, limiting approval to projects overseen by international organizations. In recent years Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, has largely adhered to an informal cease-fire, raising questions on both sides about the timing of the latest escalation.
All this makes it all the more curious that Hamas, which has largely abided by an informal cease-fire with Israel in recent years, is a party to the latest round of violence. Its military wing claimed responsibility on Wednesday for firing rockets into Israel “as a response to the ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people.” Hamas has been under local pressure from more radical groups in recent months and may be eager to show that it has not abandoned what it calls the resistance against Israel. Both Israel and Hamas refrained from any actions during the hours of the emir’s visit, but on Tuesday morning, hours before his arrival in Gaza, an Israeli officer was severely wounded in a blast from an explosive device placed by militants along the border. A leftist Palestinian group claimed responsibility for that attack on Tuesday. Later the military wing of Hamas also took credit.
Hamas said it had fired the rockets at Israeli military bases along the Gaza border, but several of them slammed into rural villages in southern Israel, hitting a number of houses and buildings. The Israeli authorities closed schools in the area and instructed residents to remain close to protected spaces and bomb shelters. The military wing of Hamas then claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel “as a response to the ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people.” Hamas has been under local pressure from more radical groups in recent months and may be eager to show that it has not abandoned what it calls the resistance against Israel.
Such cross-border exchanges have broken out sporadically over recent months and Israeli officials say that more than 600 rockets have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel this year. There was also some speculation in Israel that Hamas might also have wanted to retaliate for the destruction of a weapons factory in Sudan in the early hours of Wednesday. Sudan blamed Israel for bombing the factory from the air, according to news agencies, presumably to prevent the factory’s weapons from reaching Gaza. Neither Israel nor Hamas have commented officially on the Sudanese accusations.
But the introduction of Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket missile system, developed with financing from the United States, has allowed Israel more room for maneuver. In many cases the system has intercepted longer-range rockets from Gaza that were headed toward Israeli cities, avoiding mass casualties and the subsequent imperative for a strong Israeli response. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, said that Israel wanted to preserve its deterrence as the Palestinian factions appeared to be building up their arms, including with weapons smuggled from Libya.
On Wednesday, Iron Dome intercepted seven rockets that were headed toward densely populated areas of southern Israel, according to the Israeli military. Israel carried out a three-week military offensive in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009, with the stated purpose of curbing persistent rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel. Israeli officials say that more than 600 rockets have struck southern Israel this year.
The success of the Iron Dome system is also an important boost for President Obama as he seeks in his campaign to emphasize his administration’s military and security commitment to Israel. In Monday’s foreign policy debate with Mitt Romney, the Republic challenger for the presidency, Mr. Obama told how he had visited the Israeli town of Sderot, near the Gaza border, during his last campaign. Noting that the town “had experienced missiles raining down from Hamas” he said his administration had financed the Iron Dome program “to stop those missiles.” But the introduction of the Iron Dome system, developed with financing from the United States, has allowed Israel more room for maneuver, intercepting longer-range rockets from Gaza that were headed toward Israeli cities, avoiding mass casualties and the subsequent imperative for a stronger Israeli response. The military said that Iron Dome intercepted seven rockets on Wednesday.
The success of the Iron Dome system is also an important boost for President Obama as he seeks in his campaign to emphasize his administration’s military and security commitment to Israel. In Monday’s foreign policy debate between Mr. Obama and the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama told how he had visited the Israeli town of Sderot, near the Gaza border, during his last campaign. Noting that the town “had experienced missiles raining down from Hamas” he said his administration had financed the Iron Dome program “to stop those missiles.”
Israel announced on Wednesday that it would finance anti-rocket fortifications of 1,700 Israeli homes in the Gaza border area.
But residents of southern Israel said their patience was wearing thin.
“It is absurd that we live like this,” said Yael Sadin, 49, a resident of a kibbutz, or communal farm, which was struck by five rockets on Wednesday morning. Speaking by telephone, she said, “We are like in a war, a kind of hell, while the other half of the country is living in heaven.”

Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza.

Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza.