Israel launches heavy air raids on Gaza targets

JERUSALEM: Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip early yesterday in its heaviest attack since an internationally brokered cease-fire was put in place in November.
There were no casualties reported, but the violence nonetheless threatened to shatter the calm that has prevailed for more than four months.
Although there was no claim of responsibility for the rockets fired from Gaza early yesterday, Israel holds the Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, responsible for the attacks from the seaside strip.
Ihab Ghussein, the Hamas government spokesman, accused Israel of using the airstrikes to "divert the attention" from unrest in Israeli prisons.
"They think that through escalation on Gaza front they can hide the truth," he said, and urged Egypt, the guarantor of the cease-fire, to intervene.
The Israeli military said a total of five rockets had been fired in the past 24 hours, including two that exploded prematurely inside Gaza.
Under the cease-fire, Israel pledged to halt its policy of attacking Palestinian leaders and to ease a blockade it has imposed on Gaza since the Hamas takeover in 2007.
UN Mideast envoy Robert Serry appealed for calm in a statement, saying he is "worried" tensions could threaten the informal truce. "It is of paramount importance to refrain from violence in this tense atmosphere and for parties to work constructively in addressing the underlying issues," he said.
Palestinian prisoners have been rioting and hunger striking since a 64-year-old prisoner died of throat cancer on Tuesday. The Palestinians have blamed Israel for the man's death, saying he was not given proper medical care. The prisoner, Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, had been serving a life sentence for his role in a foiled attempt to bomb a busy cafe in Jerusalem in 2002.
Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said the army was on alert for "riots" in the West Bank ahead of an autopsy planned later in the day. He accused the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the West Bank, of exploiting the death to "resume popular protests."
At protests across the West Bank yesterday afternoon, hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and rolled burning tires at soldiers, prompting a response with tear gas, the Israeli military said.
In Ramallah, protesters waved pictures of the man that succumbed to cancer and chanted "with our souls and blood we will redeem the prisoner."
Prisons Authority spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said Abu Hamdiyeh was treated by Israeli specialists and died in a hospital in Beersheba. She said the prison service asked the parole board to release Abu Hamdiyeh last week after his cancer was diagnosed as terminal last, but the appeal was still being processed at the time of his death.
Weizman said almost all of the 4,600 Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel refused their breakfasts yesterday morning in a symbolic act of protest.
As news of Abu Hamdiyeh's death spread Tuesday, Palestinian prisoners in several jails began banging on their cell doors and hurling objects.
Later, protests spread to Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank where protesters hurled fire bombs and rocks at soldiers.
Tensions are high in Israeli lockups, where thousands of Palestinian security prisoners are being held. Some have staged hunger strikes and Palestinians have held large protests demanding their release.
The issue of prisoners is emotionally charged in Palestinian society. The Palestinians revere the prisoners as standing up to Israeli occupation. In Israel, the prisoners, who are serving time for “crimes” ranging from stone throwing to mass murder, are seen as “terrorists.”