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Israel choses not to retaliate against hamas { March 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-04-18T114913Z_01_L18405745_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xmlhttp://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-04-18T114913Z_01_L18405745_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml
Israel blames Hamas for bombing but limits response
Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:49 AM ET
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel blamed the Hamas-led Palestinian government on Tuesday for a Tel Aviv suicide bombing but acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided against a proposed military offensive for the time being, a political source said.
Under pressure not to imperil U.S.-led efforts to isolate the Islamic militant group's new government, Olmert had convened his interim cabinet and security chiefs to discuss a response to Monday's attack at a sandwich bar which killed nine people.
"Olmert heard the defense establishment's ideas for possible strikes against the Palestinian Authority, and though the government is responsible, the decision was that there should be more limited action for now," a political source said.
Among measures authorized was the revocation of the Israeli residency status of Hamas officials living in East Jerusalem and a police crackdown on the smuggling of Palestinians without permits, who could be militants, into the Jewish state.
Hamas, which has largely abided by a year-long truce but refuses to embrace peacemaking efforts, has stirred Israeli and Western ire by describing Monday's attack -- claimed by kindred militant group Islamic Jihad -- as an act of "self defense".
On Tuesday, Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli actions had triggered the attack.
"The reason behind this cycle is the continuation of the occupation and the continued Israeli assaults against the Palestinian people," Haniyeh said before a routine cabinet meeting.
It was the first such bombing in Israel since Hamas took power three weeks ago, and the deadliest since 2004. Some in Israel called it the opening shot of a fresh confrontation.
Olmert declared the Palestinian Authority, formed under 1993 interim accords, a "terrorist" entity after Hamas won January elections. But Israel has refrained from assaults on the Palestinian Authority's new leadership or institutions.
OLMERT NEEDS COALITION FOR "CONVERGENCE"
In the absence of peace talks, Olmert vowed to follow last year's Gaza Strip withdrawal by quitting areas of the West Bank and setting Israel's border around Jewish settlement blocs.
As his centrist Kadima Party narrowly won last month's Israeli elections, Olmert has been struggling to put together a coalition government robust enough to push through the "convergence plan" over Israeli right-wing opposition.
Palestinians condemn the plan as a land-grab that could deprive them of a state. They say it boosts support for Hamas, which seeks the Jewish state's destruction, not co-existence.
The moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Tel Aviv bombing as another blow to efforts to stem more than five years of bloodshed. He vowed to arrest those involved, although Hamas has said it will not move against militants involved in attacks against Israel.
Israeli forces detained the suicide bomber's father and teenaged brother around the West Bank town of Jenin overnight, Palestinian security sources said. They said about 30 Palestinians were detained in raids in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli army confirmed carrying out dozens of arrests.
Kadima's likeliest partner in government, the centre-left Labor Party, has called for reviving peace negotiations with Abbas.
"We should fight terror, by all means, but not at the cost of cutting off any chance of talks with the pragmatists," Ami Ayalon, a senior Labor member touted as possible defense minister in a Kadima-led coalition, told Reuters.
Hamas faces challenges on many fronts, especially finding fresh aid sources following cuts from the West to the new government. Japan said on Tuesday it would not give new aid via the government until Hamas committed to the Middle East peace process.
(Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Wael al-Ahmad in Jenin, and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)
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