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By DIAA HADID
Gaza combat kills 20 Palestinians, including news cameraman; 3 Israeli soldiers die in ambush
Israel struck hard against targets in Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 20 Palestinians in a day of heavy fighting that also saw three Israeli soldiers killed in a Hamas ambush.
Several civilians were among the dead — including five children and a Reuters cameraman killed while covering the conflict, according to Palestinian officials.
The surge in violence came after a relatively quiet month and threatened to unravel an Egyptian effort to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Wednesday's death toll was the highest since a broad Israeli military offensive in early March killed more than 120 Gazans, including dozens of civilians. Since then, Israel and Hamas appeared to be honoring an informal truce, though punctuated with Palestinian rocket attacks, some Israeli airstrikes and minor border skirmishes.
That changed dramatically Wednesday, with widespread violence even though there was no unusual or recent large-scale attack.
In the day's deadliest incident, an Israeli helicopter fired four missiles at targets near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, witnesses said. At least 12 Palestinians, including five children ages 12-15, were killed, said Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Fadel Shana, a Reuters TV cameraman, was also killed along with two bystanders, apparently in an airstrike in the same area, as he was filming Israeli tank movements.
Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger called for an investigation into the death of Shana, 23. The Israeli military did not confirm its forces were responsible.
Palestinian militants ambushed an Israeli ground force in northern Gaza, killing three soldiers, the military said. The soldiers entered Gaza in pursuit of two Hamas militants who planted a bomb near the border and were ambushed by another Hamas force, Israeli defense officials said.
More troops went in to the area and came under mortar fire from militants. The army said it responded with an airstrike and identified hitting militants in the Bureij area.
In other Gaza clashes, five Palestinian militants were killed, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said late Wednesday that its forces had withdrawn from Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the "Israeli aggression in Gaza" and urged all sides to "cooperate with Egyptian efforts to reach a truce to halt the bloody cycle of violence." Abbas is visiting Moscow and has talks scheduled with President Bush in Washington next week.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the violence cast doubt on Egyptian cease-fire efforts. "There can be no discussion of a truce in the midst of these crimes," he said, threatening revenge against Israel.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for planned talks with Jimmy Carter on Thursday, and Hamas officials said the meeting would add legitimacy to their group. The former U.S. president's meetings with Hamas officials has drawn stiff criticism from the U.S. and Israel, but Carter insists it is preferable to talk to all sides of the conflict.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev called the Hamas ambush that killed three Israeli soldiers a "provocation," describing Israel's military operations as "defensive."
"The only logic here is that Hamas wants to sacrifice the civilian population of Gaza in order to advance its extremist and hateful agenda," he said.
The ambush was near the Nahal Oz terminal used by Israel to pump fuel into Gaza. The fuel supply was cut off last week after two Israeli civilians were killed in a Palestinian attack on the terminal — the only source of fuel for Gaza.
Israeli officials initially said fuel deliveries would be suspended longer because of Wednesday's ambush. But just hours after the attack, Israel resumed some shipments to Gaza's 1.4 million residents. It was not immediately clear why the decision was reversed.
Mahmoud Khuzandar, deputy director of the Gaza fuel station owners association, said eight truckloads of fuel were delivered. He said half was cooking gas and the rest was diesel fuel for Gaza's only power plant.
The fuel deliveries were expected to provide minor relief to the Gaza Strip, though they were only a tiny fraction of what the impoverished territory needs, Khuzandar said.
Israel has been cutting back on fuel and other basic supplies allowed into Gaza for months, trying to pressure Gaza's Islamic Hamas government to stop rocket attacks.
Hamas is committed to Israel's destruction, and Israel, the U.S. and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group.
Hamas seized control of Gaza last June from forces loyal to Abbas. Its continued control of the territory, along with the near-daily fighting with Israel, has jeopardized Mideast peace efforts led by the U.S.
Israel hopes to reach a peace agreement with Abbas' West Bank government by the end of the year, as both sides promised Bush last November. But Israel says it will not carry out any accord until Abbas regains control of Gaza.
After the Reuters cameraman was killed, other cameramen rushed to the scene and found his jeep on fire, with Shana's body lying next to it. They said the jeep was marked "press" and the cameraman was wearing a flak jacket identifying him as a journalist.
As colleagues rushed toward Shana, another missile was fired, said Wissam Nassar, a photographer with the Maan news agency. "There was an airstrike. We were thrown back, myself and another person."
Dozens of Palestinian journalists converged on the hospital where Shana was pronounced dead. Shocked, many still carrying their cameras, they wept and leaned on each other for support.
The Palestinian Journalists Union declared a one-day strike for Thursday to protest the killing.
Despite near daily Israeli-Palestinian violence, casualties among journalists are rare. Only three others have been killed covering the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1992, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
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