GAZA: At least six Hamas members were killed yesterday when an explosives-laden car blew up just south of Gaza City, only a day after four Israeli soldiers died when their tank was gutted by a 100kg bomb in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Another two Palestinians were killed yesterday by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus.
The latest surge of violence came as Israel agreed to allow a Palestinian delegation to travel to London for three days of talks, starting tomorrow, on reform of the Palestinian Authority. The decision, apparently made under pressure from Washington, is a reversal of a decision last month, in the wake of a suicide bombing, to bar a Palestinian team from travelling to Britain for similar discussions.
The delegation will carry a letter from Mr Yasser Arafat to the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, affirming the Palestinian leader's decision to accede to a key US-EU demand to appoint a prime minister. A senior Palestinian official said yesterday that it could be weeks before any appointment is made.
Hamas leaders, who claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack on the tank, blamed Israel for the blast, saying they believed it had been triggered by a remotely piloted drone flying in the area. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
On Saturday, Maj Gen Doron Almog, the head of Israeli forces in the south, told a press conference that the army knew Hamas was behind the tank explosion. "We know that Hamas planted the bomb in the area, and we also know who from Hamas is involved," he said.
A senior Hamas official, Mr Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, vowed retaliation for Israel's "new crime, their new terror action ... It will be a very expensive price."
Since the early months of the intifada uprising, Israel has adopted a policy of killing leading Palestinian militants. But there have also been cases in which militants have been killed in "work accidents," while preparing bombs for use against Israeli targets.
The explosion on Saturday in which the four soldiers were killed was the fourth time since the start of the intifada that militants have succeeded in wrecking an Israeli tank.