Israel raids Gaza;
drills for readiness

JERUALEM — Israeli ground and air forces killed at least six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip last week as the military retaliated for a deadly Palestinian attack days earlier.

The raids near the communities of el Bureij and Khan Younis came after Prime Minister Olmert vowed to keep hitting Hamas until it can no longer kill Israeli civilians.

Hamas had made a cross-border raid targeting a fuel depot that supplies Gaza. The raiders killed two Israeli civilians. Israeli spokesman Arieh Mekel said Hamas was trying to force Israel to cease supplying fuel to Gaza, so the world will blame Israel for creating a humanitarian crisis.

Arabic television responded with a masked fighter in camouflage who said the Palestinians will continue to strike at Israel everywhere until its siege of Gaza is lifted.

Israel has accused Hamas authorities of holding back fuel Israel has already sent to Gaza.

The back and forth raids occurred as Israel was conducting a nationwide emergency drill to prepare Israelis for the possibility of war.

The drill set off waves of speculation about a possible new confrontation with Lebanese Hezbollah or Syria – even talk of conflict with Iran.

Olmert dubbed the drill "Turning Point 2," with a dummy declaration that the Jewish state was "at war." However, he also insisted in broadcast remarks that the drill of unprecedented magnitude was “nothing but an exercise.”

Even so, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s office said he had instructed the army “to be extremely vigilant and take all necessary measures to protect Lebanese civilians.”

The London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that Syrian forces went on high alert.

Reuters news service reported last month that ahead of a five-day offensive against Hamas rocket crews in Gaza, Israel secretly warned Syria that any response across the Lebanese border would be seen by Israel as Syrian aggression.

Israel also has dangled an olive branch. Olmert has insisted Israel wishes to hold peace negotiations with Syria.

UN decries Israel
response to rockets

UNITED NATIONS — Israel's rightful response to security threats should not collectively punish the Gaza population for rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory, the U.N. humanitarian affairs chief says.

John Holmes, undersecretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, acknowledged Israel's security problems. But the U.N. criticized Israel's closing all border crossings with Gaza, preventing delivery of a U.N. aid shipment to the 1.5 million people there, most of whom need the assistance.

Israel's Daniel Carmon said Israel is acting as any government would when confronted with a surge of violence and terrorism. He gave no indication of when the closure would end.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for "an immediate cessation of Palestinian sniper and rocket attacks into Israel, and for maximum restraint on the part of the Israel Defense Forces," spokeswoman Michel Montas said in a statement.

Israel killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza last week as part of what it described as a stepped-up campaign to force Hamas to rein in militants who have fired more than 110 rockets into the Jewish state in the last three days alone.

It bombed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza on Friday, killing a woman and injuring at least 30 other people who were nearby, medical officials said.

Holmes said he was worried about the sealing of the border crossings because "they are the lifeline for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and other goods to Gaza."

Ban joined Holmes in urging Israel to end the closure, saying it cut off the population from fuel supplies needed to pump water and generate electricity for homes and hospitals.

"The closure will also cause further shortages of food, medical and relief items in the Gaza Strip," he said.

Holmes labeled the Israeli response unwarranted. He said the responses Israel chose to use are unjustifiable even by the rocket attacks.

Carmon said Israel has promised to allow humanitarian goods into Gaza.
Holmes also urged Hamas, which controls Gaza, to use its authority to put an end to the attacks on Israel. He said he worried the violence in Gaza could lead to worsening a situation for Gazans that he believes is already a crisis.