A Palestinian mortar attack killed one Israeli and wounded two others on Saturday, following vows by the Palestinian group Hamas to take revenge for the assassination of one of its leaders by occupation forces, said reports.
One Israeli was killed and two others wounded in the mortar attack on a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli military officials cited by the BBC.
The attack on Kfar Darom followed warnings of revenge from Palestinians at the funeral of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a senior Hamas militant killed by Israeli forces on Friday, added the UK-based news service.
Israel has confirmed it carried out the Apache helicopter attack, which one Palestinian security source called an "assassination," said CNN.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians joined the leader's funeral procession, chanting ``Sharon, wait, revenge is coming soon,'' a reference to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose adminstration is accused of initiating the assassinations of around 60 Palestinians in the last several months.
A Hamas leader in Nablus, Teissir Imran, informed the crowd that ``Sharon opened the door to hell, for himself and his people,'' according to AP.
Israel's killing of Abu Hanoud, suspected mastermind of several major suicide attacks in Israel since 1997, is expected to push the region into more turmoil as the United States is launching a new Mideast peace mission, said the agency.
More conflict is likely to emerge, particularly given the Palestinians' keen awareness that the US provides Israel with billions in military aid while claiming the role of an "impartial broker" in peace talks.
"[Israel] assassinated Palestinians under the umbrella of the alliance with the United States of America," CNN quoted Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantissi as saying. "So the support, the supporters of Israeli terror is the United States of America."
RISING TENSIONS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
The killing of the Hamas leader and his companions on Friday followed the funerals of five Palestinian schoolboys who died in an explosion in the Gaza Strip that Palestinians say was caused by an Israeli booby-trap.
The Israeli army has admitted that one of its devices was probably "involved," according to the BBC.
"From an initial investigation... the possibility emerges that the children were killed because they were playing with a bomb which Israeli soldiers had planted in the sandbagged position which had been used for terrorist attacks on our forces," the BBC quoted an army spokesman as saying.
The news service said that tensions had been high in Gaza for months, with Israeli tanks in position to protect the Jewish settlers who have made their homes on occupied Palestinian land nearby.
According to the UK-based magazine The Economist, Israel has "flouted" the 1993 Oslo peace accords by settling tens of thousands of its people on land seized from Palestinian owners - a practice outlawed by international law.
More fighting preceded the assassination of the Hamas leader, with CNN reporting that two Palestinians were killed in an explosion, and a teenager killed in a "shooting incident" at Khan Younis in clashes with the Israeli army after funerals for the five boys.
In another incident covered by the news network, the Palestine Red Crescent said the Israeli army opened fire on a car in southern Gaza, killing one Palestinian man and leaving two others - a man and a woman - clinically dead. Another woman sustained moderate wounds, the Red Crescent said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said three Israeli tanks entered Palestinian-ruled areas to the east and south of Deir El Balah near Kfar Darom and fired four shells.
They said two Palestinians were wounded in the military action, according to AP.
At least 720 Palestinians and 189 Israelis have been killed since the latest uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000, according to news agencies.
DIPLOMATS HEAD FOR REGION
In a burst of US enthusiasm for diplomacy, former US Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns are due to arrive in the region on Monday, according to Reuters.
The two aspiring mediators are expected to attempt to revive a truce deal and peace talks, said AP.
But Nabil Abu Irdeineh, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused Israel of trying to sabotage US peace efforts by killing Abu Hanoud, the agency said.
Asked about the timing of the helicopter attack just a few days before US Secretary of State Colin Powell sends two top envoys to the region, CNN quoted Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin as saying there was no such thing as good and bad timing in fighting terrorism.
The US has been particularly concerned with calming the Mideast conflict ever since Sept. 11, when Washington set about rallying Arab support for its war on terrorism.
The US diplomats are expected to push for more efforts by both sides to comply with the report issued months ago by the Mitchell Commission, which calls among other things for a freeze on Israeli settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land.
Sharon, however, has repeatedly made clear his support for the settlement movement.
The Israeli premier, who took office promising to secure the safety of ordinary Israelis within a very short period of time, recently told leaders of his Likud Party to prepare for a long conflict - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
