JERUSALEM — A Palestinian roadside bomb killed an Israeli soldier patrolling the border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Israel responded with an airstrike that wounded a Hamas militant in a flare-up of violence that undermined a cease-fire on the eve of a visit by the new U.S. Mideast envoy.
Israel briefly sent tanks and bulldozers across the border into Gaza after its soldier was killed and three others were wounded in the bombing. Hamas said the Israeli airstrike wounded one of its militants.
It was the worst bloodshed since the sides declared the cease-fire on Jan. 18 to end a three-week Israeli offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted that a much tougher response to violations of the informal truce could soon follow. “Israel’s response has yet to come,” he said.
Early today, Gaza residents reported two Israeli air strikes targeted smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.
The violence cast a shadow over the arrival of George Mitchell, President Barack Obama’s special Mideast envoy who was set to visit Israel today for three days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on how to get stalled peace efforts back on track. Mitchell has no plans to meet with Hamas.
Hamas, which the U.S., Israel and European Union consider a terrorist group, seized Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007. Hamas’ control of Gaza, and its refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist, are considered major obstacles to peace efforts.
In an interview Monday with the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya, Obama said he felt it important to “get engaged right away” in the Mideast. He said he directed Mitchell to talk to “all the major parties involved” and that his administration would craft an approach after that.
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