MIDDLE EAST: The leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas called on his fighters yesterday to "activate resistance" hours after an Israeli artillery strike killed 18 civilians, mostly women and children, from a single family in Gaza.
Khaled Meshaal, who lives in exile in Damascus, promised retaliation after a wave of artillery shells landed before dawn on a residential street in Beit Hanoun. Several homes were hit, all belonging to one family.
The attack sparked international condemnation and came a day after the Israeli military ended a six-day operation in Beit Hanoun that claimed more than 50 lives. More than 350 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military in the past five months.
"Our condemnation will not be in words but in deeds," Mr Meshaal said. "All Palestinian groups are urged to activate resistance."
Hamas agreed a truce that began 18 months ago, but it expired at the end of last year. Hamas militants have since fired rockets into Israel, but the call to arms risks a return to suicide bombings.
Israel's military halted all artillery strikes into Gaza yesterday and said it had appointed a general to investigate the shelling. The military admitted that it had fired "preventative artillery" into Gaza yesterday aimed at "launch sites" from which rockets had been fired the day before.
The military suggested there had been a targeting mistake.
"Initial information shows the artillery fire was directed at a location distant from the one reportedly hit," it said in a statement.
Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said: "Unfortunately, in the course of battle, regrettable incidents such as that which occurred this morning do happen."
Margaret Beckett, the British foreign secretary, said she was "gravely disturbed" by the deaths. "Israel must respect its obligation to avoid harming civilians. It is hard to see what this action was meant to achieve and how it can be justified," she said.
Alvaro de Soto, the UN's Middle East special co-ordinator, said he was "deeply shocked and appalled" by the shelling. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was also "appalled".
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called the attack a "despicable crime". He said: "We tell the Israelis, you are not seeking peace at all . . . you must therefore bear all the consequences."
Israeli military operations continued in Gaza last night. An airstrike in Gaza City killed two militants.
The Islamic Jihad militant group, which never accepted the ceasefire brokered by Mr Abbas and Egypt, has vowed to carry out suicide bombings in response to the Beit Hanoun strike.
Israeli police said they had gone on high alert.
Hamas's armed wing, decrying Washington's "political and financial support" for Israel, appeared to call on Muslims to attack US targets, urging them "to teach the American enemy harsh lessons".
An Israeli military statement said the army had "fired preventative artillery at launch sites from which Qassam rockets were launched (on Monday) into Ashkelon", in southern Israel.
Israeli media said an artillery battery had missed its target, about 1km from Beit Hanoun. An army spokeswoman could not confirm this.
In a rare show of unity, Mr Abbas and prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas donated blood together and visited a hospital, in northern Gaza, treating some of Beit Hanoun's 54 wounded.
Mr Haniyeh said he had suspended, for a few days, talks with Abbas on the creation of a technocrat unity government, an administration that Palestinians hope could prompt the West to ease sanctions imposed after Hamas came to power in March.
Funerals expected to draw thousands of mourners will be held today in Beit Hanoun, the focus in the past week of Israel's biggest offensive in Gaza in a year.
- (Guardian service; additional reporting Reuters)