ME conflict shows no signs of abating

Israeli soldiers receive instructions moments before a military operation in Gaza Strip yesterday. Israeli helicopter gunships late Sunday killed four Palestinians, including two militants of the radical group Hamas, in the first attack since the formal breakdown of a ceasefire two days ago. Photo: AFP

At the same time, a struggle within the Palestinian leadership for control of security services intensified with Palestinian patriarch Yasser Arafat appointing a new adviser to restructure the security apparatus.

Tensions rose further after four militants of the radical group Hamas, including one described as chief of operations, were struck down Sunday night in Gaza City by rockets fired from Israeli attack helicopters.

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It was the second air strike on Hamas in three days and the first since the hardline movement and the Islamic Jihad group announced Friday they were calling off a seven-week-old truce already badly stained with blood.

Israel, which considered the truce dead after a suicide bombing last week killed 21 passengers on a Jerusalem bus including several children, made it clear Monday it would press its campaign to assassinate militant chiefs.

A senior security source told AFP a meeting of senior military officials late Sunday decided to continue or even intensify the strikes because the Palestinian Authority was doing nothing to rein in radicals.

The army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, served notice Sunday that no militant leader was safe.

"As far as we are concerned, the radical core, from the first to the last, are targets for liquidation," he said.

Hamas' armed wing vowed to avenge the death of its four members killed in the air strike Sunday, three days after one of the group's senior political leaders Ismail Abu Shanab and two bodyguards were killed in a similar attack.

"We will counterattack as soon as possible the crimes of the Zionist occupation," said a statement from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades' sent to AFP's offices in Gaza City.

With Palestinian anger rising since the death of Abu Shanab, tens of thousands were expected to turn out Monday for the funerals of the latest Hamas victims, three in the southern Gaza town of Rafah and the fourth in Gaza City.