New Tension Tests Israel-Palestinian Truce
An Israeli military official says the army is delaying the replacement of its top Gaza commander. The move comes as fighting threatens an increasingly shaky 5-month-old truce between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The truce began unraveling last week, when Israeli forces entered Gaza to destroy a militants' tunnel. Seven Palestinian gunmen died in ensuing clashes. The fighting unleashed a wave of rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza at Israeli border towns and military patrols. On Wednesday, four militants died in clashes.
Brig. Gen. Moshe Tamir was scheduled to be replaced Friday. But a military official said that because of the tension on the border, his term has been extended till further notice. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made.
One of the main militant Islamic groups active in Gaza, the Islamic Resistance Committees, claimed in an interview with an Israeli newspaper Thursday that the delayed handover was "another victory" for the "Palestinian resistance".
IRC spokesman Abu Mujehad told Yediot Ahronot, "This is a message to the enemy that it is terrified by the modest rockets in the Palestinian people's possession and is in a state of hysteria because of them… But this is not just a moral victory. It is also a military victory over those claiming to be the most glorious army in the region."
"This only goes to prove that the rockets yield results, causing confusion and fear among the enemy," Mujehad reportedly told the newspaper.
Israel said Thursday that Palestinian militants had fired a new barrage of rockets and mortars from Gaza.
No one was injured in Thursday's attack on southern Israel, but it raised concerns over the durability of the truce. The army said five rockets and two mortars were launched.
Tension between Israelis and Palestinians was increasing on all fronts Thursday. In addition to the violence on the Gaza border, the newly elected mayor of Jerusalem was already stoking Palestinian ire by promising new construction in the area they hope to one day call capital of a Palestinian state.
CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reported that Mayor Nir Barkat said he plans to continue building in Jewish neighborhoods in disputed East Jerusalem.
"You should come with a clear plan of investing and building Jerusalem as a whole," said Barkat, a secular Jew who toppled the Israeli capital's ultra-Orthodox leadership.
Barkat maintains there is a housing shortage, and Israel must build to keep young Israelis in Jerusalem. Palestinians, who make up a third of Jerusalem's population, argue that Israel is creating facts on the ground to prevent East Jerusalem becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, the United Nations is demanding Israel allow food shipments back into Gaza, as a flour warehouse in the territory sits empty a week after Israel cut off supplies.
Berger reported that Israel halted all shipments in response to the Palestinian rocket attacks, and insists that the blockade will stay in place until rockets stop falling on southern Israel.
U.N. spokesman Chris Gunness demanded that Israel open the borders immediately. "We have supplies going to blind children in Gaza. They're not firing rockets and they shouldn't be punished."