Olmert's regrets

Tuesday 29th April 2008


Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has expressed "deep regret" for the deaths of a Palestinian mother and her four children who were killed during clashes on the Gaza Strip.

But he stressed that Israeli youngsters are also being affected by the continuing violence between the two sides.

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Local Palestinian sources claim a tank fired at the house of the Abu Muatak family in the town of Beit Hanun as they ate breakfast on Monday, killing the mother Miyasar and her four children: Salah, 4, Musad, 18 months, Hanaa, 3, and Rudeynah, 6. The IDF maintains that an Islamic Jihad gunman was targeted and killed and it was the explosives he was carrying that caused the death of the five civilians.

The army has, in any case, launched an investigation into the incident, which occured when soldiers from the Givati Brigade entered the area close to Beit Hanun to root out Palestinian terrorists responsible for firing kassam rockets into Israeli territory. When Palestinians exchanged fire with the soldiers an aircraft was killedin and fired a missile against the gunmen.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Olmert said: "I would like to express my deep regret, on behalf of the Israeli government and the State of Israel, over the tragic incident in which a mother and her four children were killed in Beit Hanun."

However he stressed that it is ultimately the responsibility of Hamas, the ruling party in the Gaza Strip. "We regret the fact that civilians are being hurt here, and we regret the fact that Hamas is operating from within populated area, exposing them to outcomes we do not intend to reach," Olmert added.

"I hope that the brutal fight of the terrorist organizations against Israel will end. But so long as their fight continues, we will be forced to fight them. Our sorrows are true and more real than the fake remorse of the terrorist organizations that expose their citizens to such injuries".

Egypt is believed to be attempting to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak appeared uninterested in any truce considering the continuing barrages of rockets being fired on towns and kibbutzim close to the Gaza Strip such as Sderot.

Speaking to reporters while touring the West Bank security barrier on Tuesday morning, Barak said: "Israel is in a state of conflict with Hamas, rather than in a ceasefire. Hamas is responsible for everything happening in the Gaza Strip. The operations also put civilians in danger. We are not happy when civilians are hurt, but view Hamas as the one to blame."

While the controversy and debate over the civilian deaths gained ground, the attacks on Israelis continued.

On Tuesday morning nine kassam rockets and six mortar shells were fired from Gaza into the western Negev but noone was injured. One Kassam hit a house in Sderot which, fortunately, was empty at the time.

The previous day an estimated 18 rockets and dozens of mortar shells landed in Israel from Gaza, again no serious injuries were reported.

Despite claiming responsibility for the attacks, Hamas still blames Israel for the situation. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh this week reportedly accused Israel of striving "to ruin any regional and international efforts to end the siege and halt aggression."


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