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Use any measure, Sharon tells army

Hopes for a peaceful co-existence dim as Israeli planes pound Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday instructed army to act against Palestinian militants ``without restrictions'' using ``any measure'' to dismantle their infrastructure as war planes pounded suspected hideouts of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, dimming hopes for a peaceful co-existence in West Asia.

``I instructed that there are no restrictions on the use of any measures in order to strike at the terrorists, their equipment and where they find shelter,'' Mr. Sharon told the Cabinet. ``The instructions are unequivocal. We do not mean a one-time action here,'' he said. ``This phenomenon must be stopped. It cannot continue under any circumstances,'' he said about the militants.

The security establishment has presented a series of steps that it is taking and will take in order to stop the mortar and rocket fire by the Palestinian militant factions, Mr. Sharon said. ``I am certain that it is within our ability to halt the terrorist organisations actions against us.''

For the first time, Israeli artillery units fired their heavy guns at open areas in Gaza. In a large-scale operation in the West Bank, Israel also arrested 207 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists.

Mr. Sharon said that the forces would also act in this region besides the Gaza Strip to prevent Palestinian attacks on the civilians.

Leadership challenge

Mr. Sharon, facing a leadership vote of his Likud Party on Monday, got support from the new U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones, who said that Washington understood Jerusalem's response to weekend Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern town of Sderot and other Israeli communities in the western Negev.

Mr. Jones accused militant groups of trying to provoke a response from the Israeli security forces, Israel Radio reported.

``It is inconceivable that children in Sderot are unable to walk safely to school,'' it quoted Mr. Jones as saying.

Labour Party Cabinet Minister Yitzhak Herzog told Ha'aretz daily that he did ``not at all rule out the possibility that IDF cannons will shell Gaza.'' — PTI

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