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JERUSALEM — Thirteen Palestinians, including at least five civilians, died late Friday and early Saturday in escalating Israeli-Palestinian fighting that renewed threats of an Israeli invasion of Gaza and clouded peace efforts. A baby and two teenagers were among the dead.
In all, 46 people have been killed since clashes between Israel and extremists affiliated with Gaza's ruling Hamas movement spiked Wednesday. At least 20 of the dead were civilians. An Israeli man was also killed by rocket fire that grew more ominous earlier this week when it hit a town closer to Israel's heartland.
Hamas said the baby, Malak Karfaneh, died just before midnight Friday in an Israeli strike on Beit Hanoun, a northern town where Palestinian militants often launch rockets at nearby Israel. But local residents said one of those rockets fell short and landed in the area of the baby's house.
The Israeli military, which sent troops, tanks and aircraft after Gaza rocket squads, said it only attacks rocket-launching operations, but noted that militants sometimes operate within civilian areas.
Fierce fighting erupted Saturday east of the town of Jebaliya. Among those killed were five militants, but also four civilians, including a 17-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother and a 45-year-old man and his 20-year-old son, medical officials said. Two unidentified people were killed later, ambulance drivers reported, and a Hamas militant died of wounds sustained Friday.
The Israeli military reported that three missiles landed Saturday in the city of Ashkelon, 17 kilometres north of Gaza, slightly wounding two children and a woman. Fifteen rockets and a mortar round also landed closer to the Gaza-Israel border, causing no injuries.
Israel evacuated its troops and settlers from Gaza in late 2005, but militants proceeded to fire rockets from the abandoned territory. On Thursday, militants raised the stakes significantly by firing Iranian-made rockets into Ashkelon, a coastal city of 120,000 people.
While Ashkelon had been targeted sporadically before, it never suffered direct hits. The assault increased the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to protect a widening circle of people at risk.
Next week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit the region to try to prod Israel and moderate Palestinians forward in their bid to reach a peace accord by the end of the year. The two sides declared that goal at a U.S.-sponsored conference in November.
But Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's efforts are compromised by the fact that he only rules the West Bank, while Gaza is controlled by the violently anti-Israel Hamas. And Israel's fragile governing coalition would be hard pressed to make concessions to the Palestinians while Gaza militants pummel southern Israel with rockets.
Palestinian rockets with increasing range have put tens of thousands of Israelis in jeopardy, and on Friday, Israeli leaders warned of an impending invasion because of the growing menace.
Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said Friday that Israel had “no other choice.” And Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the assaults on Ashkelon “demand an Israeli retaliation.”
Mr. Barak, who has warned repeatedly of a large-scale military operation in Gaza, blamed Hamas for the rise in violence and said the militant movement would “suffer the consequences.”
On Friday, Mr. Abbas called on Israel to stop all attacks in Gaza and urged Palestinian militants to halt the rocket fire. “It is in the interest of the Palestinian people not to give Israel any pretext to continue its aggressions,” a statement from his office said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey denounced Hamas' rocket attacks as “completely unacceptable” and demanded they stop. He also said the United States regularly urges Israel to consider the consequences of its actions and to pay careful attention to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people.
