PALESTINIANS IN Gaza were bracing themselves for a harsh Israeli response after a Thai farm worker was killed when a rocket fired by Palestinian militants hit an Israeli greenhouse just over the border.
The attack occurred an hour after EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton crossed into Gaza from Israel in close proximity to where the rocket landed on a plastic-covered greenhouse at the agricultural community of Netiv Ha’asara.
The 30-year-old farm labourer was one of thousands of Thai workers in Israel who replaced cheap Palestinian day labourers, unable to cross into Israel from Gaza because of security restrictions.
The man became the first victim of a rocket attack inside Israel since the end of the Gaza war 14 months ago.
Two militant groups claimed responsibility for the rocket attack: the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a splinter group from Fatah, and a small radical group that follows al-Qaeda ideology.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, has tried to stop smaller organisations from firing rockets into Israel, although this was the third strike in a day.
Israeli vice-premier Silvan Shalom accused the Palestinians of “crossing a red line”, and vowed a “harsh and appropriate” Israeli response.
Deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai blamed Hamas rulers in Gaza for the attack, reiterating the Israeli position that anything emanating from Gaza was the responsibility of the Islamic organisation that seized control of the area in the summer of 2007.
Deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, speaking at the site of the attack, called on all those who supported the UN Goldstone report on the Gaza war, which accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes, to “come to the place where the Qassam rocket fell and see the consequences of the report”.
Baroness Ashton condemned the attack shortly after arriving in Gaza, saying she was shocked by the tragic loss of life. “I urge everyone to continue to work in the direction of starting proximity talks, and make sure these incidents cannot deter us from finding a lasting peace for this region,” she said.
Baroness Ashton, who became the most senior foreign diplomat to visit Gaza since the war, inspected damage from the three-week Israeli military campaign that was launched at the end of December 2008, but refused to meet Hamas officials.
Although Israel allows humanitarian convoys into Gaza, much of the aid pledged by the international community after the fighting has been held up because of Israel’s economic blockade.
“What we have been saying to the Israelis for a long time is that we need to allow aid into this region, to be able to support the economy,” Baroness Ashton told reporters.
The head of the UN’s relief and works agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees, John Ging, said the people of Gaza hoped that the Ashton visit would result in the lifting of the Israeli siege.
US envoy George Mitchell is expected to return to the region on Sunday for fresh talks aimed at starting indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.