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Wednesday, July 24, 2002

The rebuke, issued publicly by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and delivered to the Israeli government by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, was the strongest and most direct by the Bush administration, which usually only cautions about the consequences of actions.

"The president's concern here is that there is a loss of innocent lives," Fleischer said. "The president has been, and will continue to be, the first to defend Israel. In this case, the president sees it differently."

When pressed later in the day on whether the president considered the Israeli air strike early Tuesday as self-defense against terrorism, Fleischer replied:

"This is an instance in which the United States and Israel do not see eye to eye.

"Clearly, when the president says that this heavy-handed action does not contribute to the path to peace, that's a different measure from Israel's legitimate right to self-defense."

The target of the strike was Sheikh Salah Shehada, a founder of Hamas' military wing, Izel Dein al Qassam. He had been the No. 1 man on the Israeli military's wanted list for two years.

Israeli security sources said he approved or planned most of the attacks carried out by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Shehada was killed in the bombing, which also wounded 150 people and destroyed at least seven buildings.

Israeli forces have reportedly targeted Shehada before, but he managed to escape.

'What Happens When a Terrorist Uses Civilians'

"The IDF is sorry for any harm that befalls innocent people," an Israeli military spokesman said. "Regretfully, this is what can happen when a terrorist uses civilians as a human shield and their homes for places of refuge."

Information on the type of ordnance dropped by an F-16 fighter was not immediately available. However, U.S. military sources said collateral damage by dropping a bomb or missile in a crowded area was almost inevitable.

The United States is Israel's largest supplier of military hardware, and in 1998 approved the sale of up to 75 F-16s to that country. Israel is also the largest recipient of U.S. military assistance, with $2.1 billion in foreign military financing approved for fiscal 2002. Much, if not most, of the money goes for purchasing U.S. military equipment.

Under the terms of U.S. foreign military sales, equipment can be used only for defense and/or internal security, conditions the White House on Tuesday indicated it believed the Israeli attack may have violated.

In 1982, amid allegations that Israel used U.S.-supplied cluster bombs in its invasion of Lebanon, sale of the item to Israel was banned. It still is.

Fleischer said President Bush "regrets the loss of life," and again called on Israel to be mindful that peace in the Middle East would ultimately require a political settlement, and actions such as Tuesday's would complicate reaching one.

The killing of Shehada and the others Tuesday, including eight children, brought thousands of demonstrators onto the streets in Gaza City. They carried the bodies of the dead wrapped in Palestinian flags.

'Revenge'

"The blood of the martyrs will not be lost," demonstrators chanted. "The Palestinian people will revenge these crimes."

The White House, differentiating Tuesday's deaths in Gaza from those in Afghanistan in mistaken bomb drops, said, "This was a deliberate attack on the site, knowing that innocents would be lost in the attack. "There are going to be losses of innocents in times of war, and I think that that's recognized around the world," Fleischer said. "What's always important is, in pursuit of military objectives, as the United States does in Afghanistan, to always exercise every restraint to minimize those losses of life. But in this case, what happened in Gaza was a knowing attack against a building in which innocents were found."

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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