02/04/2010 Israel on Friday threatened a wide scale military operation against the Gaza Strip after a string of air strikes which injured three Palestinian children.
Israel's deputy prime minister, Silvan Shalom, warned that the Israeli occupation military would soon launch a new offensive on the Gaza Strip unless the rocket fire from the Strip was halted. "If this rocket fire against Israel does not stop, it seems we will have to raise the level of our activity and step up our actions against Hamas," Shalom told public radio.
"We won't allow frightened children to again be raised in bomb shelters and so, in the end, it will force us to launch another military operation," said the Israeli deputy premier.
"I hope we can avoid it, but it is one of the options we have, and if we don't have a choice, we will use it in the near future," he said.
Three Palestinian children - aged two, four and 11 - were hit by flying glass in one of the six overnight raids, said Moawiya Hassanein, head of the Palestinian emergency services in Gaza. There were no other reports of casualties.
Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyyeh, reacted by blaming Israel for the increase in tensions. "My government is in talks with the Palestinian organizations to maintain a united stance with regards to the struggle against Israel," he said, and urged the international community to "intervene to put an end to the Israeli escalation," Haniyyeh said in a statement.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told Al Jazeera Channel that Hamas held the Israeli government led by Binjamin Netanyahu responsible for the "escalation", but said the air raids had been expected because of threats by Ehud Barak, the defense minister, and other ministers.
He also blamed "the international community and the Arabs" for failing "to do anything about the situation in Gaza". "The absence of the international community and the Arabs has allowed the Israelis to escalate the situation," he said.
Israeli aircraft bombed in Khan Younis, including a site housing Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV network. In Gaza City, warplanes targeted the Daloul cheese and diary factory in the Sabra neighborhood. Houses were damaged nearby.
Aircraft fired two missiles at a police station in the Nusseirat refugee camp in addition to other sites in central Gaza, including a telecommunications company.
In accordance with an emergency plan developed for renewed Israeli attacks, ambulances were mobilized throughout Gaza in anticipation of casualties.
Palestinians across the coastal enclave said dozens of Israeli aircraft were spotted overhead.
An Israeli military spokesman said the warplanes targeted two weapons manufacturing facilities, one in the north, one in central Gaza, and two weapons storage facilities in the south.
Earlier, Israeli occupation officials reported that Palestinian fighters fired a homemade rocket into Israeli territory from Gaza. No one was injured.
Late Thursday, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets on areas of Gaza bordering the occupied territories warning Palestinians not to approach the frontier. "The (army) holds Hamas as solely responsible for maintaining peace and quiet in the Gaza Strip," the occupation military said.
The rise in rocket fire comes amid mounting tensions in the region sparked by Arab fears that Israel has been moving to deepen its hold on annexed, mainly occupied east Jerusalem.
It has also been accompanied by fresh clashes along the Gaza border fence. On Tuesday, a Palestinian teenager was killed and several others were wounded as Israeli occupation troops fired on protesters near the border of the blockaded territory.
And two Israeli occupation soldiers, including an officer, were killed along with two Palestinian resistance fighters during fierce clashes last weekend when Israeli tanks carried out a brief incursion into Gaza.
'CONCERNED' BRITAIN URGES RESTRAINT ON BOTH SIDES IN GAZA
Meanwhile, Britain expressed concern Friday at Israeli air strikes against the Gaza Strip and the increase in rocket attacks from the enclave, and called for restraint on both sides.
"We are concerned by today's strikes and the escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel over the past week. We call on all parties to show restraint," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said. "We encourage Israelis and Palestinians to focus efforts on negotiation and to engage urgently in US-backed proximity talks."
Haneyya callas on the international community to bridle Israeli escalation
3 Palestinian children wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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