Middle East: The Israeli army yesterday dynamited three uninhabited high-rise apartment buildings in central Gaza in retaliation for the killing of three of its soldiers by a Hamas gunman on Friday. A spokesman for the radical Islamic group, meanwhile, said it was preparing to meet the Palestinian prime minister for ceasefire talks.
The Hamas gunman who infiltrated the settlement on Friday was shot dead by troops after he opened fire at the barracks there, killing the three soldiers, two of them women.
Before destroying the 13-story apartment blocks, which were still under construction and were on a hill overlooking the highly fortified settlement of Netzarim, troops briefly evacuated some 2,000 residents from homes in the vicinity.
The huge blast sent a cloud of black smoke into the sky and the shockwaves from the explosion damaged homes nearby.
Israel said the buildings had been used as observation posts by militants planning the attack at Netzarim.
Mr Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, called the demolitions "provocations," and said they would not "bring security and stability to the region."
At least three Palestinian militants were killed in clashes in Gaza yesterday. The Israeli army said all three were shot dead trying to infiltrate settlements.
Hamas expressed willingness yesterday to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Ahmed Korei, who wants to persuade militant groups to agree to a ceasefire. A spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, Mr Ismail Haniya, said his movement had been invited for talks by Mr Korei and that it "has no reason to boycott such a meeting and Hamas is preparing for this meeting." There was no immediate talk of a date.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Mr Farouk a-Shara hinted that Damascus would retaliate in the event of further Israeli attacks on its soil. Earlier this month, Israeli warplanes targeted a camp near Damascus that Israel said was being used to train militants, after a suicide bombing in northern Israel that killed 21 people. Syria, which experts say is massively outgunned by Israel, did not retaliate.
But Mr Shara, who spoke to the Daily Telegraph, said that if attacked again, Syria has "many cards that have not been played. Don't forget there are many Israeli settlements in the Golan. I am not exaggerating but I am describing things as they might happen."
Mr Shara's remarks were understood as a hint that Damascus might target Israeli settlements established on the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967.