Olmert threatens Gaza offensive
6 Jun 2008
Israel's prime minister has said that the country's military could launch fresh large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Ehud Olmert's warning on Friday came as Israeli raids on the occupied Palestinian territory left at least one person dead and at least 17 injured.
"According to the information we have now, the pendulum is much closer to a decision on a harsh operation," Olmert said, soon after he returned from the United States.
He had earlier told US reporters that Israel was heading towards a military operation in Gaza.
He said that Egyptian peace efforts on the Gaza Strip were "not ripening in a way that can bring a ceasefire".
Gaza clashes
In Friday's raids, a member of the armed wing of Hamas died in an exchange of fire between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli military, emergency medical services said.
Two people were injured in the fighting, which broke out after Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed into the Gaza Strip.
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The Israeli army said it had entered the territory in an attempt to prevent rockets from being fired by Palestinian fighters.
Hamas said in a statement that its fighters had fired anti-tank rockets at the troops.
An air raid on the village of Beit Lahiya in central Gaza reportedly targeted a Hamas base causing a number of injuries.
On Thursday, an Israeli man was killed in a mortar attack by Gaza fighters, triggering an air raid on the territory that left a four-year-old Palestinian girl dead.
The girl's mother and another woman were wounded in the air raid by an Israeli drone which the Israelis said had targeted Palestinian armed groups.
The girl and her mother were outside their house near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza when a drone fired a missile, witnesses said.
The Khan Yunis hospital identified the girl as Aya al-Manjar and said her mother was critically wounded.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying: "The air force conducted a raid and fired at Palestinian gunmen."
She said the attack targeted the area from which Palestinian fighters had earlier fired rockets that hit a kibbutz, or commune, in southern Israel, killing the Israeli man and wounding several.
Clashes between Israeli forces and armed Palestinian groups have continued in and around the tiny Palestinian territory despite efforts by Egypt to mediate a truce.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's deputy leader, issued a new internet message on Wednesday urging fighters to escalate attacks on Israel over the crippling siege of the territory it imposed after Hamas seized control almost a year ago.