Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Monday that any peace talks with Palestinian leaders depended on whether they could rein in militants, who killed five Israeli soldiers in Gaza in an attack on Sunday. The assault on an Israeli post between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the most lethal since Yasser Arafat’s death a month ago, drew missile strikes in a swift reprisal and dimmed hopes for an end to decades of conflict in the post-Arafat era. Despite its worst military loss in seven months, Israel said it still planned to pull back troops during Palestinian elections on Jan 9. to help ensure that they went smoothly. But Sharon said any talks with Palestinian leaders would depend on a halt to attacks. Peace negotiations collapsed in 2000 shortly before Palestinians launched their uprising. ‘‘Any development depends on the Palestinian leadership and its actions,’’ he told visiting members of the US Congress in Jerusalem. ‘‘We want to move forward towards peace, but at the moment we do not see any change among the Palestinians.’’ In Syria, officials blamed Israel for a Damascus car-bombing that almost killed an unnamed member of Hamas, one of the factions behind Sunday’s raid. Israeli officials had no comment. Sharon did not refer in his remarks directly to Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate and US-favoured Palestinian leader whose election as Arafat’s successor was virtually assured after jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi withdrew on Sunday.Abbas will have to deal quickly with Sharon’s plan to quit Gaza. Western countries hail it as a step to peace, but Palestinians fear it will cost them the West Bank. In Sunday’s carefully planned attack, militants burrowed underneath an Army post on the Egypt-Gaza border then set off a 1,500 kg bomb, turning buildings to rubble and killing five soldiers of a Bedouin Arab unit. Israel struck back with helicopter missiles, cutting off power in Gaza City after they hit a generator. They also hit a metal foundry, which the Army said was used to make weapons. In the West Bank, troops killed a Hamas gunman. Israel Radio said Army officers had agreed to a major military response in Gaza in coming days. But Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said that Israel would still try to ease conditions for Palestinians so that next month’s presidential vote goes smoothly. He said troops would withdraw from Palestinian cities for 72 hours. —Reuters
