Hamas fires dozens of rockets at Israel
JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants in Gaza fired more than 50 rockets into Israel on Saturday, the heaviest barrage in two years, Israeli officials said.
A Hamas official was killed and four civilians were wounded when Israel hit back with tank fire and air strikes, said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says he will file a complaint at the U.N. after Saturday's unusually large barrage of rockets. In a statement, Lieberman said the Palestinians "primary goal is destroying Israel."
The violence comes amid increasing calls for reconciliation between Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his bitter rivals in Hamas. Abbas is seeking U.N. recognition for a Palestinian state by the fall and is currently lobbying for votes worldwide. But the internal Palestinian rift makes their vision of statehood harder to achieve and hinders their ability to reach a peace agreement with Israel.
Israeli Police spokesman Tamir Avtabi said Gaza militants fired 54 mortar shells at Israeli border communities within 15 minutes. He said two Israeli civilians were lightly injured by shrapnel and residents were advised to stay at home or in bomb shelters.
Hayim Yellin, head of the Eshkol region where the mortars exploded, said the mortars are of the same type as those intercepted on cargo ship last week loaded with weapons Israel said were sent by Iran to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas acknowledged it launched some of the mortars — an unusual move as the Islamic militant group does not usually take responsibility for such attacks. Hamas fears triggering another Israeli invasion similar to a three-week operation aimed at stopping daily Palestinian shelling two years ago that killed about 1,400 Palestinians.
Israeli police said the mortar barrage Saturday was the heaviest since that round of fighting.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all violence originating in Gaza, though Hamas usually blames smaller groups for rocket fire.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said the shelling was in response to recent Israeli airstrikes that killed militants. He warned Israel "not to test Hamas' response."
Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza in bloody street battles in 2007. Since then, Hamas controls Gaza and the Western backed secular Fatah rules the West Bank.
Repeated efforts to reconcile the two rival governments have failed. Palestinians have held rallies in Gaza and the West Bank in recent days calling for the two sides to resolve their differences.
On Saturday, Hamas used force to break up a small rally, witnesses said. An Associated Press Television News cameraman was nearby when he was cornered by Hamas police and beaten with sticks. He was briefly detained and released unharmed. Other cameramen also were beaten and some had their equipment confiscated by Hamas. The offices of a news organization were raided.