Jerusalem – Israel shut down charities with ties to Hamas across the West Bank on Wednesday as it widened a five-day offensive against Palestinian militants despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel.
Moving to keep the violence from escalating, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Cairo to try to enlist the aid of Egyptian President Hosni Mu barak, while Palestinian officials said he would meet next month with President Bush in Washington.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration had talked to the Palestinians and Israel about “the responsibilities they have” in defusing the situation in Gaza.
“On the Palestinian side, that responsibility is to act to stop any terrorism, to act to dismantle terrorist networks,” McCormack said in Washington. “On the Israeli side … they take steps to ease the daily plight of the Palestinian people as well as to take into account the effect of their actions upon what all share as the ultimate goal of bringing peace and stability to the region.”
But a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas, tentatively set for Sunday, was postponed, apparently because of the flare-up.
The meeting with Bush was set for Oct. 20, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Early today, Israeli soldiers raided the West Bank town of Jenin and a nearby village, sparking shootouts with local fighters that left three militants dead, according to witnesses and Palestinian security officials.
The army entered Jenin and the village of Burqin about 1 a.m. on arrest raids for wanted militants. Soldiers in Burqin shot and killed two armed men – the targets of the arrest raid – who appeared about to fire on the force, the army said. Palestinians identified the men as Islamic Jihad militants Nidal Khlouf, 32, and Samar Shalaby, 24.
In Jenin, a militant fired at soldiers, who returned fire and killed him, the army said. Palestinians identified the man as Samar Asady, 30, of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a militant group with loose ties to Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement.
On Wednesday, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at several Gaza targets, knocking out power in Gaza City for most of the night, damaging several buildings and destroying an overpass.
Troops also fired live artillery shells into northern Gaza for the first time, hitting an area the army said was used to fire rockets.
A senior army officer said Israel might shell Palestinian towns – after first giving warning – and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was trying to teach the militants it will not tolerate any more attacks from Gaza following its recent pullout from the area.
“It needs to be clear to them that we mean every word we say,” Mofaz said.
In a new phase of its offensive, Israel closed down 15 offices across the West Bank, including those of charities linked to local mosques. Israel said the offices were used to distribute money to the families of suicide bombers and militants jailed by Israel.
Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas commentator, said the group has a support network extending from East Asia through the Persian Gulf to Europe, and that Israel would not be able to stop the flow of money and donations.
“Israel is monitoring, but it can’t monitor every channel,” he said, suggesting some of the money is brought in through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.
