Israeli Forces Kill Five Palestinians in Gaza Attacks

Israeli forces killed five Palestinians on Thursday in separate actions in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said, as militants fired several homemade Kassam rockets into southern Israel.

In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli artillery killed three people who the army said were handling a rocket launcher that had been used during two of the salvos Thursday. Palestinian witnesses said the three were shepherds, ages 15 and 16.

Palestinian militants have fired at least six of the crude projectiles into Israel during the last two days. Thursday’s attacks damaged a school building but caused no injuries. On Wednesday, one salvo wounded a 15-year-old Israeli boy when it crashed into a greenhouse near the Gazan border.

In southern Gaza, two Palestinians, a 45-year-old woman and 25-year-old man, were killed during an Israeli arrest raid near the town of Rafah, Palestinian officials said.

The Palestinian deaths were the highest one-day toll in Gaza in more than two weeks.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers and members of a special police force had surrounded a house in Rafah in search of wanted militants when they were fired on and targeted by grenades. The troops returned fire, she said.

The spokeswoman said the forces arrested several people. She declined to say whether the raid was related to efforts to free Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants during a cross-border foray three months ago.

Egypt has brokered efforts to secure Shalit’s release, probably through a swap of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Egyptian officials have said in recent days that a deal appeared near.

The June 25 capture prompted Israel to launch its first sweeping military incursion into Gaza since pulling out of the coastal strip last summer. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed during the off-and-on military actions.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that militants release Shalit before Abbas’ Fatah movement will join the radical Islamic group Hamas in a unity government. Talks on a possible coalition were suspended this week as Abbas traveled to New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.

Abbas and Hamas leaders last week announced an agreement to form a coalition, in hopes of breaking the international aid embargo against the current Hamas-led government. But serious differences remain over the proposed government’s platform, including wording on recognizing Israel.

Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, and its leaders have said repeatedly that the group would not recognize Israel.

Hamas officials Thursday offered praise for a statement by the peace intermediaries known as the quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- that welcomed efforts to form a unity government.

The statement expressed hope that the platform of the new coalition would “reflect” three conditions supported by the mediators: recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and abiding by interim peace deals.

Sami abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, called the statement a positive sign but said it did not go far enough.

“The quartet position must include the immediate stop for the economic and political embargo and to put pressure on the Israeli occupation to stop all the aspects of aggression against the Palestinian people,” Abu Zuhri said.

The quartet’s statement was interpreted by some observers as a softening of the mediators’ demands.

The United States and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization and cut off most aid to the Palestinian Authority after the group won parliamentary elections in January. That cutoff and Israel’s decision to withhold about $50 million monthly in tax and customs revenues have left the Palestinian Authority broke and unable to pay government salaries.

Israeli conservatives accused the quartet of moving away from a policy that sought to isolate Hamas. Silvan Shalom, a former foreign minister who belongs to Israel’s right-wing Likud Party, said the move was “a green light for the world to talk to Hamas.”

Israeli government officials, however, said they saw no sign of a shift.

“We see that the quartet is standing by its demand on the incoming Palestinian government to accept the three benchmarks,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

In other developments, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended his handling of the recent war in Lebanon as polls showed a further decline in Israeli public support.

A poll published by the daily newspaper Haaretz found that Olmert’s approval rating had fallen to 22% from 48% shortly before the Aug. 14 cease-fire.

In a separate poll in the daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot, Olmert was chosen as “most suitable” to be prime minister by only 7% of respondents, ranking behind four other political figures. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by 27% of those polled, and Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, was second, with 15%.

In interviews before the Jewish New Year, Olmert said his wartime decisions were sound and had resulted in victory for Israel. “I have no doubt that we won the war,” Olmert told the Maariv newspaper.

He said some prominent critics, including former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and former army Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon, acted out of grudges.

ken.ellingwood@latimes.com

Special correspondent Rushdie abu Alouf in Gaza City contributed to this report.