Two killed in Mideast attacks

An Israeli man at work on a kibbutz and an 8-year-old Palestinian girl at play in the Gaza Strip died Thursday in aerial attacks by Hamas and Israel, an increase in cross-border violence that could set back Egypt’s effort to forge a truce.

A mortar round fired at midday from near the Gaza town of Khan Yunis struck a paint factory on the Nir Oz kibbutz 2 1/2 miles away, killing Amnon Rosenberg, 51.

About two hours later, an Israeli jet fired a missile at Hamas militants close to the source of the mortar fire, the army said. The missile missed the target and killed Ayah Najar as she played outside her home, Palestinian medical workers said.

The Israel-Gaza border had been relatively quiet in recent weeks as Egyptian mediators passed messages back and forth between the two sides. But the peace effort had begun to stall, and the bloodshed Thursday indicated that Israel and Hamas were running out of patience.

Hamas, an Islamist group that advocates Israel’s destruction, claimed responsibility for firing three mortar rounds, calling the attack an answer to “nonstop aggression against our people.” The 120-millimeter shell that killed Rosenberg wounded four workers in the storage area of the factory in southern Israel.

Israeli government spokesman David Baker said Hamas would “be held accountable.” Israeli defense officials are to discuss a response Sunday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after his return from a visit to Washington.

The Israeli officials are skeptical of a Hamas proposal for a six-month truce and are expected to consider stepped-up military action in Gaza, an option that Defense Minister Ehud Barak says is probable.

“We are not eager for a military operation,” Olmert told reporters in Washington. “But we are not shying away from one.”

Israeli officials worry that Hamas would use a truce to bring more weapons into Gaza through Egypt; they have demanded that any agreement include a halt to the smuggling. Israel also wants Hamas to release an Israeli soldier held in Gaza for nearly two years.

For its part, Hamas seeks the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody and an end to the economic blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since the militant group seized control of the coastal enclave a year ago.

Israel’s closure of the Gaza border and imposition of other economic sanctions have caused shortages of fuel, electricity and many basic goods for the territory’s 1.5 million residents. On Thursday, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition by nine Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups to ease fuel restrictions, which the petitioners denounced as collective punishment.

Palestinian militants have launched thousands of rockets and mortar shells at military and civilian targets in Israel over the last seven years and intensified the fire since Hamas took control of Gaza last June, driving out the secular Fatah party after a unity government collapsed. The rocket attacks have killed 16 people in Israel since late 2001.

Israeli attacks, which the army says are aimed only at militants, have killed 49 Palestinian civilians as well as 57 militants in the last three months, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

The Palestinian girl who died Thursday was described by her elder cousin, Ahmed Najar, as “a very sweet kid, very good in school.” She had taken her last exam of the school year and started her summer break just an hour and a half before the Israeli missile struck.

Her mother, who was wounded in the blast, lost a son last October in an Israeli airstrike. Hamas said he was a member of its military wing.

Rosenberg, the Israeli killed Thursday, was a civilian volunteer in the border patrol. A father of three, he spent most of his time working at the paint factory, teaching farmers at the kibbutz how to drive tractors, and giving yoga and karate lessons.

He often joked that, having earned a black belt, he didn’t need a gun because he could kill someone just by laying a hand on him, a friend said.

Haim Yellin, head of the Eshkol Regional Council, which includes the kibbutz, said it was obvious to battered residents of the vulnerable border area how Israel could put a stop to the rockets: Order a big military offensive or accept a truce.

“But this situation, the Israel government not deciding, that is intolerable,” he said.

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boudreaux@latimes.com

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