Israel's security cabinet has given the army approval to resume an internationally condemned policy of hunting and killing Palestinian militants, Israeli sources said today.
They said the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting yesterday after Palestinian militants infiltrated the Jewish settlement of Alei Sinai in the Gaza Strip, killing two Israelis.
Israeli Defence Minister Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israeli forces had been authorised to take any action necessary to defend Israeli civilians and soldiers. The sources said this included what Israel calls "targeted killings" - a policy Palestinians brand assassination.
Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat reaffirmed a ceasefire plan at a meeting last week in which Israel agreed to stop its track-and-kill policy and raids into Palestinian areas.
But there was little expectation that a meeting between Mr Shimon Peres and two senior Palestinian negotiators would help stabilise the brittle ceasefire.
Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. Israel insists the Palestinian Authority arrest suspected militants; the Palestinians say they cannot go ahead until Israel eases its stringent blockades of Palestinian towns.
The United States wants to restore calm in the region as it tries to win Arab and Muslim support for possible military action against Islamic militants suspected of the recent terror attacks.
AP