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Sharon under fire
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ISRAEL'S brief occupation of Palestinian land in the Gaza Strip this week was branded yesterday a failure by two cabinet ministers who said it had not stopped Palestinian mortar attacks on Israeli territory.
Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, a Labour Party hawk who was deputy defence minister in the government of former premier Ehud Barak, said the occupation was "a failure" because the attacks were continuing.
Only hours after the troops pulled out overnight on Tuesday, mortars were fired at Jewish targets in the Gaza Strip. Another eight landed in southern Israel and on a Jewish settlement on Wednesday night, without causing any casualties.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came under fire with the right-wing accusing him of caving in to US pressure while leftists charged that his hardline policies could strain ties with its top ally.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres spoke by telephone with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday to explain Israel's position.
"There were problems of communication due to the fact that Israel did not inform the United States in advance of the military occupation on Monday evening in an autonomous Palestinian sector that it would be for a limited time," a foreign ministry official said.
Israel moved on Wednesday to placate the US after Washington's stinging criticism of the army's 24-hour occupation of Palestinian land during a fierce assault aimed at countering a wave of mortar attacks.
On the ground, Israeli tanks bulldozed a Palestinian security post and Palestinians fired off a hail of mortar shells shortly after the army pulled its troops out of the northern Gaza Strip following an operation the United States denounced as "excessive and disproportionate".
The US rebuke was the harshest against Israel since the outbreak of the deadly regional violence almost seven months ago.
Meanwhile Britain called the action unjustifiable, Germany warned against any step that could escalate the violence, and France called on Israel to respect accords and to avoid any new incursion into Palestinian autonomous territories.
Russia on Wednesday condemned Israel's occupation, blasting the action as dangerous for the peace process.
"The Israeli army's occupation of some Gaza Strip areas can have even more dangerous consequences for the situation in the Palestinian-held territory, and may escalate the confrontation between Israel and Palestine," Russia's foreign ministry spokesman said.(SD-Agencies)
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