Seven Palestinians killed in Gaza air strike

JABALYA, Gaza Strip - Israel killed an Islamic Jihad leader and six other Palestinians in an air strike in Gaza, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed a broad offensive against Palestinian militants.

A missile blew apart a car carrying Shadi Mhanna in Jabalya refugee camp, witnesses said. At least one of the other Palestinians killed was also an Islamic Jihad militant. Ten people, among them bystanders, were wounded.

It was the deadliest such strike since March 2004, when Israeli missiles killed Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and seven others in Gaza.

Hopes that Israel's recent pullout from Gaza could promote peace talks had been dented yesterday when an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis. The militant group said that attack was revenge for Israel's killing of its top West Bank planner.

Sharon said there could be no advance towards peace for now because of the "absolute failure of the Palestinian Authority in the fight against terrorism", and promised to launch a major military operation expected to focus on the occupied West Bank.

"Our action will be broad and will not stop until it brings about a cessation of terrorism," Sharon said ahead of a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Tel Aviv.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a phone call to do more to rein in militants, and Sharon ruled out talks with Abbas until he took "serious action" against armed groups.

Abbas has so far preferred to negotiate with armed groups rather than attempting to disarm them by force.

Israel's military confirmed it had killed Mhanna. Earlier, its planes struck Gaza in what Israel called an effort to stop rocket fire from the territory. There were no casualties.

Yesterday's suicide bombing in the main outdoor market in Hadera was the first bombing in the Jewish state since Aug. 28.

The Palestinian Authority denounced the bombing and pledged to try to salvage the truce he agreed to earlier this year.

"We strongly condemn the Israeli aggressions against our people in the West Bank and Gaza just as we condemn the incident in Hadera," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said. "What happened (on Wednesday) ... is like spilling oil on a fire." In a possible prelude to a broader military campaign, an Israeli armoured force swept into Jenin in the West Bank and arrested a local Islamic Jihad leader before pulling out again, Palestinian security sources said.

Troops also arrested the 20-year-old bomber's father in the northern West Bank on Thursday. Another nine suspected Islamic militants were also held.

Islamic Jihad, sworn to Israel's destruction, had vowed revenge after Israeli troops on Monday shot dead West Bank commander Loai Assadi, the most senior militant killed since the truce began.

Asked about the Palestinian Authority condemnation of the bombing, an Islamic Jihad spokesman said: "Anyone who criticises the resistance is a violator of the national consensus and stands beside the enemy."

- REUTERS