Sharon under pressure as six more die
Six Palestinians, including a 14-year-old girl and three other civilians, were killed today in gun battles and Israeli reprisal raids.
Israeli warplanes also pounded Palestinian Authority targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
With nine Israelis killed over six days, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came under growing pressure to take more decisive action. Hard-liners demanded that he crush Yasser Arafat’s government and recapture Palestinian territory.
However, Sharon decided after consultations with top security officials last night to intensify military strikes, but stop short of a large-scale incursion.
’’There will be no strategic change, but there will be wider use of military means,’’ said Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin.
The latest violence began with three separate attacks yesterday.
On the outskirts of Jerusalem, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a car after being stopped by police. A policeman also died in the blast.
Later, a Palestinian gunmen fired at Israelis in the Gaza Strip, killing an Israeli motorist and two soldiers before being shot dead. Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops in a failed shooting attack.
In retaliation, Israeli warplanes pounded Palestinian security installations in the West Bank town of Ramallah and the refugee camp of Rafah in Gaza, injuring four policemen.
In the Gaza town of Khan Yunis, three Palestinian civilians, including a mother and her 14-year-old daughter, were killed today when an Israeli tank shell hit their homes, Palestinian witnesses said.
Later, two Palestinian opened fire at soldiers near a junction in the Gaza Strip, and one of the assailants was killed by return fire, the army said.
Israeli troops also blocked Gaza’s main north-south road to Palestinian traffic, effectively dividing the strip into three parts.
In the West Bank, a 35-year-old militiaman who had spotted undercover Israeli soldiers while patrolling the outskirts of the Balata refugee camp was shot and killed,.
After the soldiers were first detected, an hour-long gun battle ensued, and a 35-year-old woman who had watched the fighting from her roof and warned the gunmen of soldiers in the vicinity was killed by a bullet, witnesses said.
In all, four gunmen and three civilians were wounded.
