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Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday blamed Hamas for the continuing deaths of Gaza residents, hours after a mother and her four children, along with two other Palestinians, were killed in clashes between Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian militants in the northern Strip. "We see Hamas as responsible for everything that happens there, for all deaths... The army is acting, and will continue to act, against Hamas, including inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also responsible, by way of its activity within the civilian population, for part of the casualties among uninvolved civilians," he said. Barak spoke after Palestinian officials said IDF troops had shelled a house in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, killing seven Palestinians. Residents said an Israeli projectile smashed through the ceiling of a one-story house where a family was eating breakfast. The Israel Defense Forces investigated the incident and said that it wasn't responsible for the deadly explosion that ripped through the Beit Hanoun house. The IDF said it had targeted two Palestinian gunmen in the area, and the gunmen were carrying large bags. When the gunmen were shot, a large explosion erupted. The IDF said this indicated that the bags must have been filled with ammunition. Palestinian medics identified the dead children as sisters Rudina and Hana Abu Meatik, ages 6 and 3; and their brothers, Saleh, 4 and Mousab, 15 months. The children's mother, Miyasar, was critically wounded in the explosion and succumbed to her wounds shortly after. Her two older children were also critically wounded in the strike, the officials said. A 17-year-old Palestinian civilian who was passing by the home was also killed in the explosion, medical workers said. In a separate incident, IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian gunman from Islamic Jihad during fighting in the area, the faction said. An IDF spokeswoman confirmed troops were operating in Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza border town from where Palestinian militants often launch rockets into Israel. The Israel Air Force and a tank unit fired at groups of gunmen that tried to approach troops in the town but no houses were targeted, the spokeswoman said. An unofficial IDF source denied Israeli involvement in the strike. The source told Army Radio that the explosion was caused after Hamas militants carrying an ammunitions bag were hit by IDF fire. Hamas said one of its snipers shot an IDF soldier operating in the town. The IDF spokeswoman said a soldier was lightly wounded by gunfire before the air force strikes. Another soldier was also lightly wounded Monday afternoon while participating in an operation in the northern Strip. Meanwhile, militants in Gaza launched at least seven Qassam rockets and nine mortar shells at the western Negev on Monday morning. The deaths in the northern Gaza town cast another shadow on Egyptian efforts to forge a cease-fire between Israel and militant groups and end violence threatening U.S.-brokered Palestinian statehood talks. "This aggression does not serve efforts being exerted to achieve calm, and it obstructs the peace process," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement carried by the WAFA news agency. Hamas said the strike demonstrated that Israel was not interested in a cease-fire. "The continued Zionist massacres are new proof that the Occupation [Israel] is not interested in calm, and therefore Palestinian armed wings should continue to respond to the aggression by all possible means," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said. Israel is waiting for the results of talks between Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups in Cairo this Wednesday before it takes a position on an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Security officials have said that if Hamas cannot restrain the smaller groups, first and foremost Islamic Jihad, there will not be much point to the agreement. Without completely restraining the smaller groups, the firing of Qassam rockets from the Strip will soon resume, they say, as has happened in the past. IDF lifts Passover closure on Palestinian territories Meanwhile, the IDF on Monday said would lift a blanket closure of the West Bank and Gaza it imposed for 10 days over the Passover holiday. A military statement said the closure ended Monday morning. It mainly affected the West Bank, since Gaza has been virtually sealed by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized power there last June. The lockdown, imposed from April 18, barred Palestinians from entering Israel. Israel routinely seals the Palestinian territories during Jewish holidays, seen as a time of high risk of militant attack as Jews gather in public places for prayer and celebration.As in the days of Noah...
