Gaza - A spokesman for the military wing of the Islamic movement Hamas promised Saturday to strike deep inside Israel in response to the killing of five militants in a predawn Israeli air strike in southern Gaza Strip. Speaking at the funerals of the Hamas fighters in Khan Younis city, Ezz al-Deen al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida said: "The enemy must be ready for black funerals. Al-Qassam Brigades will turn everything on the head of the Zionists ... and attack them unexpectedly."
Abu Obaida also slammed the recent US-hosted peace conference in Annapolis as "a cover for the Israeli army's aggression." He also attacked the acting Palestinian government in the West Bank for implementing the US-sponsored security plans.
Nine Hamas members have been arrested by security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in West Bank cities.
Hamas said the detentions by pro-Fatah security services and the Israeli attacks in Gaza were "mutual implementation, between Fatah and the Zionists, of the goodwill intentions that emerged after the Annapolis meeting."
"The new Fatah plans to crack down on Hamas in the West Bank have increased to the level of chasing down those whom the Zionists have never thought to arrest," the Hamas statement said.
Hamas sources said five militants from al-Qassam Brigades were killed and seven wounded in the airstrike carried out by Israeli helicopters against guard stations in Abbassan, a village in southern Gaza.
Al-Qassam Brigades leaders usually ask their militants to guard the Gaza borders overnight to foil any Israeli ground thrust into the Hamas-ruled territory.
Hamas said the Israeli military escalation was because of the Annapolis conference: "Waging the war against the resistance is the only clear result of the ominous meeting."
The Islamic Jihad movement, meanwhile, called on the factions to unite and put their differences aside.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency in the health ministry, said that there were two brothers among the five dead, and two of the seven wounded were in serious condition.
Palestinian witnesses said the Israeli helicopters fired six missiles into two border installations.
Palestinian paramedics said that the helicopters followed up with heavy machine-gun fire to delay ambulances in reaching the area, raising the death toll.
Israel is reportedly preparing a large-scale military operation against militants who fire rockets at southern Israeli towns and communities from the Gaza Strip.
Ten militants were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes last week on Hamas militant groups in southern and northern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile an aide to Palestinian President Abbas said on Saturday that Israel was unable to engage in serious negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, who is also a spokesman for Fatah, added that the Israeli government, led by Ehud Olmert, was bound by rightists who are waiting to topple the administration if it starts genuine talks with the Palestinians.
"What is imminent, in my opinion, is that the international political progress will affect the internal Israeli situation and push for new elections," Abdel Rahman told Voice of Palestine radio.
