Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., April 13, 2008 Nisan 8, 5768 | | Israel Time: 17:36 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman. (Emil Salman / Jini) Last update - 21:49 09/04/2008 Israel: Hamas responsible for Gaza attack, will pay the price By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service Tags: Palestinians, shooting attack  Israel blamed Hamas' leadership on Wednesday for the cross-border raid that killed two Israeli civilians near the Karni crossing with Gaza. "We see in Hamas a complete and central figure in this attack, and we put direct blame on them," said a government official, adding that "Hamas will pay the full price on this aggressiveness." Government spokesman Mark Regev said that Hamas is responsible and will be held accountable. Advertisement Earlier Wednesday, four Palestinian terrorists infiltrated from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, shooting two Israeli civilians dead at the filling depot close to the Karni border terminal, near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said the raid would not affect peace talks, which resumed in earnest this week with a summit between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The two sides hope to reach a final peace deal by the end of the year. "We decided that we will continue to talk and will not let terrorists have a veto voice on the talks with the pragmatic forces," Mekel said. Regev also said that the attack on a fuel terminal that supplies Gaza with its energy needs "shows the blatant disregard the terrorists have for the well-being of the people of Gaza." MK Avigdor Lieberman said that the "terror attack would have been avoided had the government cut itself off from Gaza- in practice, cutting off fuel and electricity supplies to the Strip." Lieberman added that "Fatah's involvement [in the attack] forces Israel to see it as a terror organization for all intents and purposes." Kadima MK Zeev Elkin called for more Israel Defense Forces operations to be carried out in Gaza. "This tragic incident is additional proof that we need to act with a much heavier hand with Hamas and other terror organizations." He added that "the time has come for the political leadership of the terror organizations to know that they can pay an individual price for the attacks. Removing the threat on Israeli civilian lives must be the government's central objective and no virtual negotiations with a virtual leader." MK Arye Eldar (NRP) maintained that the attack was a direct consequence of Israel's 2005 unilateral disengagement from Gaza. Meretz MK Ran Cohen said "I condemn the killing of innocent people and call on the Palestinians to rid themselves of terror," adding that "I call on the prime minister and defense minister to show restraint, not to be dragged [into conflict] or criticize." Mekel said that Israel would continue to provide the supplies necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis "but the difficulty is obvious." A European official said the EU did not expect to be able to restart its fuel deliveries to the power plant before Sunday, at the earliest. "The plant has enough fuel on hand to last eight to nine days," the official said. Related articles: 2 Israelis civilians killed in attack by Gaza infiltrators in south IDF soldier killed, two wounded in Gaza Strip J'lem police lower alert over suspected terrorist infiltration Bookmark to del.icio.us   'No good Jewish men' Author David Seidman delves into the dark side of dating, and confesses: 'I am a bad Jew.' Remembrance trail Holocaust memorial steam-drawn train sparks bitter row in Berlin.   1.   Why are Israeli civilians allowed to be so close to the border? 16:55  |  POP 09/04/08   2.   officials threaten accountability but themselves are unaccountabl 17:02  |  Nach 09/04/08   3.   Hamas will pay the price 17:03  |  Yanosh 09/04/08   4.   Who in Israel will pay the price for the....... 17:07  |  Deborah 09/04/08   5.   Yanosh-- 17:30  |  I 09/04/08   6.   Typical U.K. illogical `moral equivalency` from Deborah 17:33  |  Gordon Peltz 09/04/08   7.   smirk!!! 17:37  |  Assad-u-LLAH 09/04/08   8.   TO POP , some people need to make a living... 17:40  |  Gabriel 09/04/08   9.   #1 POP 17:49  |  Murray of Montreal 09/04/08   10.   To: Murray of Montreal 18:05  |  Gadi 09/04/08   11.   To: Murray of Montreal 18:06  |  Gadi 09/04/08   12.   Bush will visit next month, and lay flowers on the graves 18:08  |  * BEN JABO 09/04/08   13.   Gadi #10 18:22  |  Gary 09/04/08   14.   Assad-u-LLAH - hamas will be decimated regardless 18:25  |  smirk 09/04/08   15.   Attack on terminal supplying fuel to Gaza 18:27  |  Reid 09/04/08   16.   #10 I have judged, Gadi: YOU are the idiot 18:38  |  History 09/04/08   17.   #6 Strange post 18:38  |  Chris linthwaite 09/04/08   18.   Moshe Dayan on Gaza "murderers" 18:47  |  Naftali Lavie 09/04/08   19.   To #1 Pop-a-doo 18:48  |  Yossi 09/04/08   20.   Murray of Montreal - #9 Well said !!! 18:49  |  AIC 09/04/08   21.   i call on mk cohen to stop making a public fool of himself 18:55  |  ralph 09/04/08   22.   @Lebanese "Deborah" in UK 18:57  |  Anat 09/04/08   23.   #6. You really are the deluded fool if you.... 18:57  |  Deborah 09/04/08   24.   This Happen Because Olmert & Barak Stopped The Gaza Incursion 19:02  |  Shepherd 09/04/08   25.   Three children dead 19:26  |  Wes 09/04/08   26.   The israeli provocations seem to come just when Hamas announced 19:42  |  lakshmi 09/04/08   27.   Israeli Gov`t Are the real terroist 19:47  |  Freedom Fighter 09/04/08   28.   #16 HISTORY-- YOU ALWAYS HAVE A 19:55  |  BOBBY 09/04/08   29.   Attacking their own supply of oil - how telling! 20:16  |  Avi 09/04/08   30.   27 Freedom fighter,see my post 26 for details! 21:06  |  lakshmi 09/04/08   31.   It`s time 22:01  |  R 09/04/08   32.   It`s time 22:01  |  R 09/04/08   33.   It`s time 22:01  |  R 09/04/08   34.   It`s time 22:03  |  R 09/04/08   35.   They will "pay the price" 22:25  |  IW 09/04/08   36.   Israel should condition the supply of fuel to Gaza to a level 22:41  |  Pervert 09/04/08   37.   Hamas is crossing the line 22:48  |  lakshmi 09/04/08   38.   Didnt Sharon say `strength is in restraint` ? 22:48  |  Jimmy Dhimmi 09/04/08   39.   This is what your leaders deliver 23:42  |  Just the facts 09/04/08   40.   Remember when? 00:31  |  Mark Lincoln 10/04/08   41.   Blah blha blah 01:53  |  Meir 10/04/08   42.   Shooting themselves in the foot...(or head?) 02:00  |  Akiva P 10/04/08   43.   #23, Deborah.... 05:34  |  Silvienne 10/04/08   44.   When will Olmert pay the price? 10:33  |  Zev 10/04/08   45.   Hamas is saying "in your face" 10:39  |  Beni 10/04/08   46.   Except the Hamas Wasn`t Responsible ... 06:02  |  Jordan 11/04/08   47.   Israel responsible,if given guns they could have defended themsel 09:52  |  YSL 11/04/08   48.   We have had decades of experience with these 10:18  |  YSL 11/04/08   49.   Hi Deborah (4+23), look here.... 17:15  |  Karl 13/04/08   50.   So, Jordan (46) the murderers of the two civil workers 17:26  |  Karl 13/04/08

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