Killing of Israelis threatens ceasefire

Two Palestinian militants killed four Israeli soldiers yesterday in an attack that may mark the end of a three-week-old ceasefire.

The guerrillas - belonging to the Islamist Hamas movement but dressed in Palestinian Authority police uniforms - cut through the Gaza Strip's border fence shortly before dawn and stormed an Israeli army post with grenades and automatic weapons.

Four soldiers died, including a company commander, all from a volunteer Bedouin unit.

One of the Palestinian assailants was killed at the scene and Israeli troops shot the other dead after a chase.

The Izz al-Deen al-Qassam brigades (the military wing of Hamas) claimed responsibility for the assault, casting another shadow on American and international efforts to achieve a lasting truce after more than 15 months of violence.

In a faxed statement, Hamas said Israel's seizure last week of a ship allegedly carrying arms to the Palestinian Authority was a main factor behind the attack on the army post at Kerem Shalom, near the border with Egypt.

Yesterday's raid was the most serious since Mr Arafat's call on December 16 for an end to attacks on Israelis. Hamas agreed to suspend its attacks inside Israel after the Palestinian leader's appeal.

Israel's inner security cabinet went into emergency session. This "murderous attack on civilians and soldiers inside Israeli territory... proves the PA has not done enough to stop violence", said Avi Pazner, an Israeli government spokesman. "Of course we will not remain indifferent."

After the meeting, Israeli television quoted the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, as saying that Israel would stick to the principle of retaliating after every Palestinian attack.

The Israeli army initially said that both men were members of the PA's security forces. The PA denied the charge.

Jewish settlements within Gaza and Israeli kibbutzim and villages were immediately put on maximum alert, while Palestinian security forces evacuated their bases in anticipation of Israeli reprisals.

Palestinian sources reported an Israeli build-up of tanks, armour and infantry near the PA's Gaza international airport.

Despite claims by Hamas that the attack was a reprisal for Israel "piracy" in intercepting the 50-ton arms shipment in the Red Sea, there may be other motives.

Tensions have soared recently between the PA and Hamas in Gaza, stretching to the limit their quiet agreement on a ceasefire.

On Tuesday two Palestinian schoolgirls were wounded in Gaza's Shati refugee camp when PA security men tried to arrest a Hamas activist. And yesterday a major gun battle erupted in the same place after the PA's successful capture of another Hamas man.

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza described the arrests as a "crime that's meant to start a [Palestinian] civil war".

The fact that the latest attack was first announced by Hamas from Beirut may indicate a crack in the ranks between Hamas's "outside" leadership, which has long advocated armed resistance to Israel, and its Gaza leadership, which has taken a more conciliatory approach to Mr Arafat.

Whatever the motive, the attack has placed the mainstream Palestinian leadership in a new bind, further increasing the pressure it was under after Israel's claims of its "direct responsibility" in the arms smuggling affair.

The PA condemned the attack on the Israeli base, fear ing that it would be used as an excuse by Mr Sharon "to continue the escalation and siege against our people". It also vowed to establish an inquiry into the attack.

Javier Solana, the EU's policy chief, said the attack occurred "at a time when we all noticed a significant reduction of violence and a serious effort to fight against terror".