JERUSALEM – Israeli forces killed a Palestinian on the Gaza border Tuesday after militants set off a bomb, officials from both sides said, the latest violence that some fear could escalate into a large-scale confrontation.
The military said Palestinians detonated an explosive device near troops who were on a routine patrol of the border with Gaza. Soldiers later saw militants handling explosives and opened fire.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said a Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded by Israeli tank fire.
Last week, the Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza urged other armed groups there to refrain from attacking Israel. It warned that continued violence could draw Israeli retaliation and threaten an unwritten two-year-old cease fire. That followed a bruising three-week Israeli invasion to stop daily rocket barrages from Gaza.
Despite the Hamas appeal, militants fired five mortar shells at southern Israel Tuesday. The shells exploded in open areas and caused no injuries or damage, the Israeli military said.
The Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of militants from various Palestinian factions, claimed responsibility for the salvo.
Gaza violence has considerably declined since Israel's military campaign there two years ago. That operation killed about 1,400 Palestinians — many of them civilians.
Hamas has mostly kept a cease-fire since that round of fighting but other militants sporadically fire rockets at Israel, prompting Israeli reprisals.
Israel holds Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for all violence from the territory, though Hamas claims that smaller splinter groups are behind most of the rocket fire.
Also Tuesday, Israeli Security Agency chief Yuval Diskin told parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that al-Qaida affiliated groups are behind some of the Gaza violence.
"All the factions in Gaza want an Islamic caliphate. Hamas wants to achieve that through charity organizations, while other more radical groups want the same goal through violence," Diskin said, according to a participant in the session.
"There are about 500 militant activists identify with this idea there, and some are in touch with al-Qaida's regional command," he said, according to the participant, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
Diskin also complained that Egypt is not doing enough to prevent militants smuggling weapons into Gaza. "If the Egyptians wanted to they could end weapons smuggling to Gaza in 48 hours," Diskin said. "They have only 14 kilometers (about 9 miles) of border with Gaza,"
