Israel kills 4 Gaza militants in air strike

GAZA - Israel killed four Palestinian militants in an air attack in the Gaza Strip, the latest in a series of military actions following a suicide bombing in the Jewish state last week.

The missile strike, which broke a six-day lull in such attacks, came against the backdrop of clashes between rival gunmen of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party in a new sign of turmoil ahead of next month's parliamentary polls.

The Israeli air raid plus Palestinian cross-border rockets added to a spiral of violence that has diminished chances of resuming peace efforts, on hold as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faces a campaign for re-election in a March poll.

Witnesses said an Israeli aircraft fired on a car near the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel, killing three members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of militants.

They said the fourth dead man may have been from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in Fatah. A fifth occupant of the car, and two bystanders, were wounded, medics said.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Abir, vowed revenge for the attack, urging Israelis in Sderot, a town near Gaza often hit by rockets, "to flee their homes because soon our rockets will target them."

An Israeli military spokesman said the army hit "terrorists on the way to carry out an attack". Israel renewed targeted strikes after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis at a shopping mall on Dec. 5.

Sharon, who quit his rightist Likud party last month to form a new centrist movement, wants to counter rightist opponents' accusations that Israel's Gaza pullout in September was a reward to militants and showed he was soft on the Palestinians.

Earlier today, three people including a bystander were wounded in the internal Palestinian clashes, which broke out after dozens of gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades poured into Fatah's Gaza headquarters to demand jobs.

They then clashed with rival gunmen, also from Fatah, who wanted them to leave. It was the third straight day of turmoil in Gaza, seen as a testing ground for Palestinian statehood following Israel's pullout after 38 years of occupation.

The violence highlighted escalating divisions in Fatah ahead of elections due in January in which Hamas militant rivals are expected to mount a serious challenge to Fatah's traditional dominance in parliament.

A flare-up of election-related violence in Gaza yesterday prompted Palestinian election officials to suspend operations, but Gaza offices re-opened on Wednesday after security forces deployed outside to protect them.

The election, viewed as a test of Abbas' leadership, comes as he is struggling to contain unrest in Gaza where factions are vying for sway after Israel's pullout.

"We can't allow a group or a handful of armed groups or militias to threaten the holding of elections in a fair and free environment. We can't allow them to hijack the electoral process," West Bank lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi said.

She said she would run for parliament on an independent ticket along with Salam Fayyad, who resigned as finance minister last month and has battled parliament over its refusal to implement fiscal reforms he recommended.

Militants, worried they will not be fairly represented on Fatah's ticket following complaints about the handling of the ruling party's primary ballot, have stormed election offices in recent days demanding a delay in a January 25 poll.

They want elections postponed so that Fatah can repeat party primaries that were halted in some areas following fraud allegations and violence by gunmen, some from the al-Aqsa group.

The gunmen, who spent years battling Israel but sometimes felt marginalised in Fatah because of the dominance of Old Guard leaders, fear unless Fatah picks its candidates in a popular vote it would have a hard time beating back Hamas at the polls.

Abbas has vowed to hold elections on time even as fears rise that voting could be marred by violence.

- REUTERS