Sharon Orders
Unlimited
Operations
In Gaza
By Aljazeera
17 January, 2005
Aljazeera
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given orders for troops to carry out
unlimited operations against Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip."The
current situation is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue,"
Sharon said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"The Tsahal
(army) and the security forces have received orders to operate without
any limits on time or their modus operandi to act against the terrorist
organisations.
In the first Palestinian
reaction to Sharon's new policy, Palestinian foreign minister Nabil
Shaath said the new military campaign under way in Gaza will only serve
to further undermine the peace process,.
"This policy
will not serve the peace process and I ask the Israeli people to reject
this Sharon policy," Shaath said after a meeting with his Japanese
counterpart Nobutaka Machimura in Ram Allah.
A Sharon spokesman
on Friday said the Israeli prime minister would refuse to meet with
Palestinian president-elect, Mahmud Abbas, until he acted against armed
resistance groups behind Thursday night's attack at the al-Mintar (Karni)
crossing.
"This policy
will not serve the peace process and I ask the Israeli people to reject
this Sharon policy"
At least six Israelis and three Palestinians were killed in the explosion
set off by Palestinian resistance fighters there.
Fifteen people were
also injured in the attack, the biggest since Abbas won the election
to succeed Yasir Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority.
Shortly before Sharon's
statements, an Israeli drone bombed a Palestinian home in the al-Salatin
district west of Bait Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip.
The home was severely
damaged, but none of its residents, a 16-member-family, were reported
to have been injured.
An Israeli military
spokesman said the attack targeted a workshop used for making rockets
and mortar shells.
Meanwhile, Hamas' military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has
issued a statement claiming responsibility for firing two Qassam rockets
at the Jewish town of Sderot inside in the northern Gaza Strip.
In a separate statement,
the movement claimed responsibility for firing another two Qassam rockets
at the Eli Sinai settlement in northern Gaza Strip.
An Israeli spokesperson
said no injuries were sustained due to the rocket attacks.
Newly elected Palestinian
President Abbas had called for an end to Qassam rocket attacks on Israeli
targets, but he has largely been ignored by Palestinian resistance groups.