& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Israel threatens tougher action against militants

ME situation remains sensitive, warns Abbas

AFP, Jerusalem
Israel yesterday threatened tougher military action against militants in the occupied Gaza Strip should Palestinians continue to open fire against Jewish settlements and Israeli territory.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas voiced concern that the situation remained so sensitive that the smallest provocation could trigger large-scale clashes while militant group Hamas reserved its "right to avenge Israeli aggression".
"We must act in a more aggressive manner than we have so far," Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim told public radio.
"Until now, we have acted with moderation and restraint because
we want to have calm in the run-up to the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but it is conceivable to proceed with the evacuation under (Palestinian) fire.
"If the Palestinian Authority does not get the message, we will make it understand," Boim added.
Israel on Wednesday launched its first air strike since January against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip who were preparing to fire mortars at a Jewish settlement as violence, injuring a Hamas member who later died.
The man was pronounced dead less than 24 hours after another Hamas militant died following a shoot-out with Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza.
The violence threatened a fragile de facto truce which Palestinian
militants have been observing since January and which was cemented by a landmark Middle East peace summit in February.
It also raised to 4,759 the number of people killed since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in September 2000, including 3,697 Palestinians and 988 Israelis, according to an AFP count.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to gather his top military officials later Thursday to decide on Israel's response to a succession of Palestinian mortar attacks aimed at Jewish settlements and claimed by the armed wing of Hamas.
"If terrorism continues until the pullout we should repress it before going ahead with the withdrawal," said Boim, hinting that disengage-
ment plan may have to be delayed if the violence continues.
The Israeli government's plans to evacuate all 8,000 Jewish settlers from the occupied territory this summer has been slammed by critics as rewarding militant attacks during the more than four-year Palestinian uprising.
But a source close to Sharon told AFP there was "no question of changing the dates of the pullout".
"If things continue to escalate, we will strike in such a way... that they will be forced to stop," the official warned.
Echoing recent comments from Sharon, he accused Abbas of doing nothing to disarm militants and of mistakenly allowing Hamas to contest legislative elections without first disarming its armed wing.