by Sakher Abu El Oun
GAZA CITY, Dec 28 (AFP) - Israeli
artillery batteries bombarded the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday after
a deadline expired for Palestinians to evacuate a new security zone which
is intended to stop rocket attacks.
Israel's unilateral decision to impose a "no-go zone" in the far north of the Palestinian territory comes as part of a concerted drive to thwart repeated militant rocket attacks launched from northern Gaza into southern Israel.
An army spokeswoman confirmed troops had opened fire in open fields in the "no-go zone" after a missile was fired from the area shortly before the 1600 GMT deadline came into effect.
"It's in direct response to that," said the spokeswoman, describing the artillery fire as "slightly larger scale" than previous bouts of firing.
A Palestinian militant, aged 25, was lightly wounded in the evening by Israeli shelling as he was preparing to fire a rocket from the security zone and was taken to a nearby hospital, medical sources said.
The Israeli military earlier airdropped leaflets over Gaza, written in Arabic with an accompanying map indicating the extent of the zone, warning Palestinians to keep out of the area or else endanger their lives.
The confines of the security area mainly incorporate an uninhabited area where three Jewish settlements stood, before Israel withdrew all soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip in September after a 38-year occupation.
"The army is prepared to wage intensive operations in the north of the Gaza Strip against terrorist elements who fire rockets into the territory of the state of Israel," the fliers warned.
"For your security you are warned to avoid the sectors indicated on the map from 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) December 28 until further notice. Those who disregard this warning will put their lives in danger," they added.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the application from late Monday of a decision to create the zone, taken by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Israel had no right to reassert control over any part of the territory, while also condemning the rocket strikes.
"Israel left the Gaza Strip and has no right to return under any pretext such as the firing of missiles which I also strongly condemn," he said.
"I ask all parties to assume their responsibilities and not give pretexts to Israel."
Alongside overnight strikes on Gaza, Israeli warplanes targeted Palestinian militants near Beirut in response to a series of rocket attacks against a town in northern Israel from across the border with Lebanon.
While there were no reported casualties in Gaza, at least two members of the PFLP-GC, a small pro-Syrian faction, were wounded in the air strike to the south of Lebanon's capital.
Palestinian security sources said the air strikes had targeted roads around the northern towns of Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya.
The army said it had attacked 10 roads used by militants to reach rocket launch sites on the edge of the border into southern Israel.
Israeli commentators said Palestinian factions in Lebanon had been emboldened by what they regarded as a timid response to the Gaza rockets.
"He who agrees to hold back when Qassam rockets are fired in the south, will in the end endure Katyusha rockets in the north," said Yuval Steinitz, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee.
Israeli security sources said at least three rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, hitting the roofs of two houses.
Electricity supplies were also cut in the attacks as locals were ordered to take cover in bomb shelters. Several people were treated for shock but no one was wounded.
Military sources said it was the first time Kiryat Shmona, around eight kilometres (five miles) south of the Lebanese border, had been hit since Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon more than five years ago.
Lebanese police said a total of seven rockets had been fired from the border region. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Lebanon-based Palestinian factions.
"Israel wants to blame us for the rocket attacks to provoke a hostile reaction against us in Lebanon," said Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) spokesman Anwar Raja.
Israeli aircraft continued to overfly much of Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanese police said.
bur-jm/sjw Mideast
AFP 282011 GMT 12 05
Copyright (c) 2005 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 12/28/2005 15:11:56