Islamic Jihad responds with war crimes

AP/Houston Chronicle:

The militant Islamic Jihad group in Gaza fired more than a dozen rockets at southern Israel early today after Israeli undercover forces killed one of its West Bank leaders, shattering a recent lull in Gaza fighting.

The new violence highlighted the fragility of efforts to move Israel and Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers toward an informal truce.

The Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Shehadeh was buried today in the West Bank town of Bethlehem along with three other gunmen killed in the raid late Wednesday. The bodies of Shehadeh and another militant were wrapped in Hezbollah flags, and dozens of mourners chanted support for the Lebanese guerrilla group — a sign of the Iranian-backed militia's growing influence on Palestinian militants.

A dozen rockets and three mortars were fired late Wednesday and early today, Israeli security forces said. Two rockets struck a warehouse and soccer stadium in the rocket-weary Israeli town of Sderot, but no one was injured. Israeli aircraft struck a loaded rocket launcher early today, but no Palestinian injuries were reported.

The rocket barrage from Gaza was practically a given after Israeli undercover forces opened fire on the car carrying Shehadeh. The Israeli military said the Islamic Jihad commander planned suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would keep pursuing militants involved in attacks on Israelis.

"Yesterday in Bethelehem we demonstrated once again that the state of Israel will continue to pursue and strike all murderers with Jewish blood on their hands," Barak said.

Israel held Hamas responsible for the attacks because it controls the Gaza Strip.

"When another group takes responsibility for a rocket launch, they are subcontracting out for Hamas," government spokesman Mark Regev said. "No one could be firing rockets from Gaza without the support of Hamas."

...

On Thursday, former Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Hamas had to be toppled before rocket fire would stop.

"Israel will not exist side by side with this Iranian entity 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Sderot and 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Ashkelon," Sneh told Army Radio. "There can be no solution without a diplomatic agreement, and there can be no solution without the military wiping out Hamas."

A statement from the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's partner in troubled peace negotiations, condemned Israel's "ugly crime" in Bethlehem.

...

Abbas has it just backwards. Israel's attack in Bethlehem was targeted at those directly responsible for attacking Israelis. The Islamic Jihad response was an indiscriminate shelling of non combatants. There is no moral equivalence between the two. Sneh is also correct about Hamas. These attacks could not occur without their letting them. What would the reaction be if Israel let its citizens fire random rockets into Gaza? The Palestinians are weakening their case for a state with their irresponsible attitude toward these attacks on Israel. Until they can act responsibly, they have nothing of value to offer Israel.