Fighting drags on in Gaza

JERUSALEM – Palestinian-Israeli fighting continued a third day Friday with a coordinated attack by three militant groups on a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.

One Palestinian was killed during a shootout with troops.

Israel warned a cease-fire declared in February is in danger of collapse and threatened to retaliate if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas fails to rein in militants.

Abbas, visiting India on Friday, said he was hopeful the truce would stick.

A flare-up could complicate Israel’s plans to withdraw from Gaza this summer. But a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel would push ahead with the pullout no matter what.

In Friday’s attack, three militants fired missiles, mortars and assault rifles at the Gaza settlement of Kfar Darom, the army said. Hamas said it carried out the attack with the Popular Resistance Committees, a Gaza group, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent group with ties to Abbas’ ruling Fatah party.

One militant was killed in a gun battle and two escaped, Hamas and the army said. Hamas said the attack was in retaliation for Israeli strikes.

The fighting erupted while Abbas is on a two-week tour of South America and Asia, prompting Israeli criticism not only of the violence but also of his lengthy absence. Abbas is heading to the United States next week to meet with President Bush.

Sharon’s spokesman said Israel will go ahead with plans to withdraw in August from all settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank.

“The pullout is for Israel. It has nothing to do with the Palestinians,” he said. “If during the pullout there will be Palestinian fire, our response will be harsher then ever.”

Sharon announced his Gaza withdrawal plan last year as a unilateral Israeli withdrawal.

But after Yasser Arafat’s death in November and Abbas’ emergence as the new leader, the sides have expressed a desire and a willingness to coordinate the pullout.