4 killed in Gaza violence after Rice visit

Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli couple in an ambush at the Gaza border on Sunday shortly after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ended her mission to shore up a fragile truce before Israel’s Gaza pullout.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, under pressure from Jewish ultranationalists who call his plan to abandon the occupied land a reward for a Palestinian uprising, promised a tough response to the shooting at the Kissufim crossing.

“Israel will not make its peace with this terrorism,” he told his cabinet. “I made clear to the secretary of state that our response will be of a different kind, using very tough new measures,” Sharon said. He did not elaborate.

Israel killed two gunmen who carried out the ambush. It was claimed by three militant groups including al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction.

The shooting added to the sense that Rice’s trip, hastily arranged after the bloodiest spell since a February truce, achieved little but reinforce Washington’s stated commitment to the Gaza withdrawal as a possible step to future peacemaking.

Israelis remained unconvinced by Palestinian pledges on security during the pullout and beyond, despite Rice's praise for Abbas' efforts to date.

Palestinians wanted Rice to do more to ensure coordination from Israel on practical issues for the Gaza Strip after ending the 38-year-old occupation. They also wanted to pressure Sharon on complaints like settlement expansion in the West Bank.

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“For the Palestinian government it (the visit) was important but the man on the street is very angry and frustrated,” said Palestinian analyst Mahdi Abdul-Hadi.

The militants fired at a vehicle on its way out of Gush Katif settlement bloc, killing an Israeli couple who had made a weekend visit from Jerusalem, the army and police said.

Cease-fire in danger
The militant groups involved said they were still committed to the truce but vowed more attacks if Israel continued to arrest or kill Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

“We are committed to calm but are also committed to responding to Zionist violations,” an Islamic Jihad spokesman said. The Popular Resistance Committees were also involved,

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State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called the shooting “a senseless act of violence.”

“The incident underscores the need for the parties working individually and in cooperation to maintain an atmosphere of calm free from violence during this period in the run-up to the withdrawal and during the Gaza disengagement,” he told reporters aboard Rice’s plane as she flew home from Israel.

Rice had praised Abbas’ efforts to stop attacks but said more action was needed, especially ahead of Israel’s first removal of settlements from land Palestinians want for a state.

Israel has vowed to strike back at militants who may try to disrupt its planned withdrawal from all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank.

Washington sees the pullout as a step toward reviving peace talks on Palestinian statehood. Israeli settlers and right-wingers, who view the West Bank and Gaza as their biblical birthright, say the pullout would reward Palestinian militants.

Palestinians welcome the move but fear Sharon will strengthen the Israeli hold on the West Bank under what he calls “disengagement” from conflict.

Rice urged Israel on Saturday not to seal off Gaza from the outside world after the pullout, echoing a key Palestinian demand.

Some 8,500 settlers would leave Gaza, home to 1.4 million Palestinians. But only a few hundred of more than 230,000 settlers will be removed from the West Bank, where they live alongside 2.4 million Palestinians.