GAZA CITY: Israeli troops on a night mission in the Gaza Strip killed two Hamas gunmen early Friday as Israel launched strikes against Palestinian fighters that left 11 dead in 24 hours. The simmering conflict between Israel and Gaza's armed groups has escalated less than a week before US President George W. Bush's visit to the region, overshadowing peace efforts and increasing the chances of a full-scale armed conflict in Gaza. On Thursday, Palestinian fighters hit Israel with a Katyusha rocket, a weapon with a deadlier warhead and longer range than the smaller rockets fighters regularly launch. It hit in the northern part of the town of Ashkelon, the longest reach yet for a Palestinian rocket. The Israelis hit back Thursday with airstrikes and ground operations that killed nine people, including three civilians. The Israeli operations continued Friday when infantrymen inside Gaza, near the Israeli border, clashed with Hamas gunmen and killed two of them, according to Hamas and Palestinian medical officials. Troops saw armed men approaching them and opened fire, the military said. Thursday's rocket strike caused no casualties. But Israel considers it an escalation, government spokesman David Baker said. "The Palestinians have attacked a major Israeli city ... and thus have upped the ante. Israel will not allow any cities to be attacked by Palestinian rocket fire, Baker said. The projectiles fired from Gaza have killed 12 Israelis in the past six years and have caused widespread hardship in communities in Israel's south. Israel's military has been limiting its response to airstrikes and short incursions by infantry and armored forces, a tactic that has left scores of fighters dead with minimal Israeli casualties but has failed to stop the rocket fire. The Ashkelon attack upped calls for a large-scale ground operation in Gaza to root out fighters. Roni Mehatzri, Ashkelon's mayor, called for an Israeli invasion of Gaza to stop the attacks, now that his city of 120,000 is in range. "It's just madness, just madness, he told Channel 10 TV. "Israel should have acted in Gaza a long time ago. But a senior Israeli official said Friday that Israel's current policy was working. "Hundreds of terrorists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza over the past six months, Deputy Premier Haim Ramon said, and Israel's policy of blockading Gaza has succeeded in undermining Hamas, which violently took control there in June. "Hamas is under serious pressure, and is making efforts to convince other terror organizations in Gaza to hold their fire, hoping that we'll stop attacking it and its men. Hamas' hold on Gaza is getting weaker and weaker, Ramon told Israel Radio. Most of the rocket fire at Israel has been carried out by Islamic Jihad, a small group allied with Hamas, acting with Hamas' consent. The latest violence cast a shadow over the upcoming visit by President Bush, expected to arrive Jan. 9 in Jerusalem for his first visit since entering the White House. Bush is coming to the region as the Israeli government resumes peace talks with the moderate Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' rival, who has ruled the West Bank since Hamas took over Gaza. On Thursday, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Abbas, condemned Israel's operations in Gaza. "We consider what's going on in Gaza ... as a bloody Israeli message in which Israel shirks itself of any commitment before the arrival of President Bush to the region, he said. He did not mention the Katyusha rocket. In published comments Thursday, Bush said he would not let a future Palestinian state become a base for attacks on Israel. "I won't lend a hand to the establishment of a terror state on the borders of Israel, Bush told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.
