Gaza rocket kills Thai farm worker in Israel

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A rocket fired by Gaza militants smashed into a greenhouse in an Israeli border village Thursday, killing a Thai worker in the first such death since Israel's massive offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza more than a year ago.

The launch defied a long-standing ban by the Hamas on such attacks and highlighted the growing challenge to the Islamic militant group from more radical rivals, including al-Qaida-inspired firebrands.

The rocket also raised the specter of Israeli retaliation and further conflagration at a time of renewed international focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel has drawn tough U.S. criticism in recent days for plans to build hundreds more homes for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem.

Major Mideast mediators -- among them U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- were to meet Friday in Moscow to seek a way forward after the row over Israel's building plan derailed plans to start indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Ashton visited Gaza on Thursday, the first senior diplomat to set foot in the blockaded territory in more than a year. Half an hour after her convoy of white sport utility vehicles entered Gaza through a heavily fortified Israeli crossing, the rocket was fired into an Israeli communal farm on the Gaza border.

It slammed into a greenhouse, scattering potted tomato plants in all directions. The dead man was identified as a foreign worker in his 30s from Thailand.

Thousands of foreign laborers in Israel have taken on menial jobs that used to be filled by Gaza residents until a decade ago, when unrest prompted Israel to restrict Palestinian movement.

"Israel will not allow terrorism and Palestinian terrorists to continue their attacks and to kill Israelis," Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said during a tour of the attack site.

Further attacks

Later, Israeli tanks fired several shells into Gaza, causing no damage or injuries, according to witnesses. The military had no comment.

Ayalon said Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortars at Israel over the past eight years, arguing that Thursday's incident was proof that Israel had good reason to launch its war on Gaza in December 2008.

Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week ground and air offensive, including hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis also were killed.

Israel has rejected allegations by U.N. investigators and human rights groups that both sides committed war crimes. Ayalon said the rocket attack showed how "absurd" the criticism against Israel was.

Ashton said she was "extremely shocked" by the rocket attack and Ban, who is due in Gaza over the weekend, said acts of "terror and violence against civilians are totally unacceptable."

Israel held Hamas responsible for Thursday's attack, even though Hamas opponents claimed responsibility.

One claim came from Ansar al-Sunna, one of several al-Qaida-inspired groups that have sprung up in Gaza in recent years, espousing global holy war.

These groups, known as Jihadi Salafis, consider Hamas too pragmatic but are not believed to have actual links to al-Qaida and have limited firepower.

They have emerged as a growing irritant to Gaza's rulers, who have tried to maintain an informal truce with Israel since the end of the Gaza war.

Rocket fire from Gaza dropped sharply after the war, with most attacks claimed by Salafis. Hamas security forces have rounded up dozens of Salafis in recent months.

A second claim of responsibility came from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the remnants of a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction.

In recent days, Hamas has issued fiery statements, urging Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem to launch a new uprising over Israel's actions in Jerusalem. Yet it has refrained from firing rockets in Gaza.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum portrayed Thursday's deadly attack as a result of "the recent escalation against our people and our holy places."

Since the end of the war, Hamas has largely avoided provoking Israel in an attempt to win international support for lifting a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.

Ashton's visit to Gaza illustrated Hamas' efforts to win over the international community, even as it continues to be shunned by the West as a terror organization.

Bearded Hamas policemen blocked traffic at major intersections to allow Ashton's convoy to get through, but kept out of sight as she visited a U.N. girls' school, a U.N. food distribution center and a center for disabled Gazans. She had no direct contact with Hamas.

Ashton toured Gaza to get a firsthand look at the hardships caused by the war and the border blockade.

"What we have been saying to the Israelis for a long time is that we need to allow aid into this region, to be able to support the economy to grow for people," she said at the girls' school.

Gaza's 1.5 million people have become increasingly dependent on foreign aid. Europe spends some 500 million euros ($688 million) a year -- or half its annual aid to the Palestinians -- to help keep Gaza afloat.

------

Associated Press Writers Matti Friedman and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Rizek Abdel Jawad in Gaza City contributed to this report.