Militants vow 'struggle' against Israel

2012-04-06 14:31

Jerusalem - A Palestinian militant leader said that his group's "struggle" against Israel will continue despite a cease-fire that stopped an exchange of fire between the Gaza Strip and Israel in March.

The statement by Sheik Nafez Azzam of Islamic Jihad at a Gaza rally late on Thursday came as Israel vowed to strike against the yet-unidentified militants who launched a rocket into the southern Israeli town of Eilat earlier on Thursday.

Gaza regularly sees days- or weeks-long outbreaks of violence, in which rockets are fired into Israel and airstrikes launched at militant targets in the territory, followed by months-long cease-fires.

The last major outbreak of Gaza violence began in early March when Israel killed a militant leader it said was planning an attack, and the Eilat attack together with Azzam's comments have raised fears in Israel as the Jewish state closes its borders with the Palestinian territories and takes other security measures in preparation

"We are continuing the struggle and the jihad," Azzam said at a Gaza Strip rally in comments broadcast on Israeli television. "We will not be broken. We will not surrender. We will not accept the conditions Israel tries to impose."

Sinai militants

Islamic Jihad is a militant group that has operated in Gaza since 1979 and has carried out bombings and rocket attacks on Israel.

Azzam spoke hours after Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz promised harsh retribution to militants who fired a rocket early on Thursday into Eilat. Israel says that it was launched from the Sinai desert of neighbouring Egypt.

Palestinian groups have ties with Sinai militants, disgruntled tribes and smugglers there. Egypt denied the rocket was fired from its territory.

"The long arm of the State of Israel ultimately reaches everyone trying to harm citizens of Israel and the Jewish people," Gantz said.

The Israeli army closed the West Bank border just before 00:00 on Friday for the first two days of the Passover holiday, which begins Friday at sundown.

Under the ban, no Palestinians are allowed to cross into Israel except those needing medical care, the military said. The ban will be lifted on Sunday at 00:00.

Israel routinely closes the West Bank during Jewish holidays when crowds in synagogues and other public places are most vulnerable to potential attacks by Palestinian militants.

A decade ago, 29 people were killed on Passover eve as they sat down to a traditional festive meal at a hotel in the Israeli resort of Netanya.

- AP