Gaza rocket kills Israeli, burdening truce effort
Monday, May 12, 2008 6:10:52 PM
By MARK LAVIE

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed a 75-year-old Israeli woman Monday, just as an Egyptian mediator was winding up truce talks in Israel -- underlining both the urgency and complexity of working out a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The rocket hit a house in the village of Yesha, about four miles from the Gaza Strip. As recently as Friday, a fatal rocket attack drew reprisal Israeli airstrikes that killed five Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev denounced the latest attack but did not say it would halt the Gaza truce talks. "The rocket fire into Israel will end. It will end either because calm will be achieved, or Israel will act to protect its people," he said.

The talks by mediator Omar Suleiman, Egypt's powerful intelligence chief, produced no tangible results Monday, even before the deadly rocket strike. He came to discuss Egypt's months of talks with the Hamas movement and many smaller militant groups in the coastal territory.

The outline of the envisioned cease-fire would be a six-month truce, stopping near daily Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks and Israel's military reprisals. Also, Israel would ease the punishing economic blockade it imposed after Hamas seized Gaza in violence last June.

Israeli officials did not reject the elements of the package. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted on freedom for Cpl. Gilad Schalit, a soldier captured in a cross-border raid two years ago, and others demanded an end to smuggling arms into Gaza through underground tunnels from Egypt.

Suleiman did not endorse Olmert's demand, saying only that "indirect negotiations" between Israel and Schalit's captors would continue.

The disagreements illustrated the difficulty Suleiman faces in forging a truce. Israel refuses to talk with Hamas, an extremist Islamic group that does not accept the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Israel, the U.S. and European Union label it a terrorist group.

Mediators have to navigate among a dozen squabbling militant groups in Gaza, reach a tentative agreement, and only then bring Israel in.

While Olmert made freedom for the soldier a condition, other Israeli officials appeared to leave some room for maneuver. Interviewed on Army Radio, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai was asked directly if a Gaza truce depending on Schalit's release.

"I can only say that for us it's a central issue ... and it must reach a proper level of understanding, Vilnai said.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak released an ambiguous statement saying that both "the release of Gilad Schalit and immediate progress in negotiations toward his release" were key elements in the formula.

The discrepancies reflected the criticism that Israel's government faces because of its inability to stop the rocket barrages out of Gaza.

Israelis living near Gaza are clamoring for a halt to the attacks, but weighing against a truce are Israeli fears that Hamas would use a lull to rearm, strengthen its rule and prepare for another round of fighting. Hamas officials acknowledge that is one of their goals.

Barak warned Suleiman that if the rocket fire does not stop, "Israel will have to operate more broadly in the Gaza Strip," a reference to a large-scale ground assault.

Hamas officials said Israel was trying to torpedo the possibility of a truce. "Any new conditions are an attempt to sabotage (Suleiman's) efforts," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Olmert had other concerns on his mind, distracting him from the Gaza truce efforts as well as peace negotiations with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

Israeli police raided Jerusalem City Hall on Monday, looking for documents connected to their latest probe into Olmert's activities -- cash contributions he received from American businessman Morris Talansky.

The inquiry is only the latest in a series of police investigations of Olmert, and a poll published Monday before the raid indicated many Israelis have had enough. Six out of 10 surveyed said they didn't believe Olmert's denial of wrongdoing, and the same percentage doubted he could make peace with the Palestinians. The survey had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.