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Israel ready for military escalation as Palestinian fighters launches new missile attack

By NNN-KUNA

Gaza : Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday that Israel is ready for any possible military escalation in Gaza Strip, holding Hamas responsibility for such situation.

Barak told Israeli radio that only Hamas bears the responsibility for the deteriorating situation in Gaza Strip and will pay for it dearly.

The Israeli minister promised more military operations in Gaza Strip that so far claimed 65 lives and injured more than 200 people.

Land and air operations will continue, he said, and will attack weapon caches and Hamas infrastructure and other Palestinian factions.

He claimed that these military escalations aimed at stopping the Palestinian shelling of southern Israel, noting that this goal will be achieved in the next couple of days.

In his statement he refused to reveal whether or not the Israeli forces are going to attack Hamas leaders, stressing he will not reveal his application for Hamas.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Army officials declared more than once that they were at a state of war against the Palestinian brigades in Gaza Strip, claiming that such operations aimed to undermine their ability to launch missiles to southern Israel.

The Israeli Army executed a wide-scale incursion in the eastern outskirts of Rafah City and spraying the city with bullets and mortor shells with extensive coverage of combat helicopters.

“These incursion coincide with an earlier explosion targeting a large group of Israeli special forces infiltrating into the city of Rafah causing causalities,” local radio in Gaza reported.

Israeli government members are scheduled to review in their weekly session the reports of army leaders and senior security official regarding developments in Gaza.

Moreover, Barak told an Israeli radio that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will conduct a series of negotiations to evaluate the situation, while the mini-ministerial council of security and political affairs will gather on Wednesday to determine the Israeli military future activity in Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, a strike was staged in Palestinian cities and refugee camps in Gaza Strip, protesting against the human massacres executed by the Israeli troops. The single-day stike was called for by the deposed Palestinian government.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian missile was launched at the southern Israeli town of Nitev, according to the Israeli Army.

An army spokesman told Radio Israel that a Katyusha fell over an open area close to the town, but no casualties or material damage was sustained.

He added that three other missiles were also launched from northern Gaza, causing no damage.

Meanwhile, Saladin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for firing three missiles at Nahal Oz, southern Israel, Sunday morning.

Four Palestinians, including a girl, were killed Sunday morning in northern Gaza Strip.

Medical sources said one of those killed in Jabaliya refugee camp was a member of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, while another 20-year-old youth was left to bleed to death after his home was shelled late Saturday night.

Ambulances recovered the body of a 12-year-old girl who was killed last night in Jabaliya, as well as that of a man.

This brings the number of Palestinians killed in the incursion and air raids on Gaza to 66, including 13 children of which one was a two-day-old infant.