by David Harris, Geng Xuepeng
JERUSALEM, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel Air Force aircraft on Sunday opened fire at two Palestinians, who Israelis claimed seemed to be laying explosives near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported.
The incident came one day after four Palestinian organizations met in Gaza. There remains a degree of uncertainty as to what really happened during the meeting, while media reports suggest the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas called for calm on the part of the armed factions in the Palestinian coastal enclave.
Those followed escalating violence between Palestinian militants and Israel over the last couple of weeks, which have aroused the international community of great concerns.
HIGH TENSION AFTER ONE-YEAR CALM
There has been more than a year of relative calm following the bloody fighting between Israel and Hamas that erupted in December 2008, as Hamas maintains a shaky ceasefire with Israel after the major conflict. However, the situation turned into a high tension again in March.
Several Israelis and Palestinians were killed in the rocket attacks and Israel's retaliatory strikes, with Israeli airstrikes reaching a new height at the end of last week with a series of raids reminiscent of those that lead up to Israel's ground invasion of Gaza a year ago.
After two senior Israeli government ministers warned that Israel will take a tough stance if the rocket attacks continue, Hamas' political leader, the Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal, said on Saturday that Israel is planning another operation against Gaza.
"The possibilities for war exist in the entire region," Israeli news service Ynet quoted Mashaal as saying after a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions in Damascus.
Israeli analysts believe the recent increase in clashes must have been a part of the deliberations at the hastily-called meeting on Saturday, attended by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
A well-informed source close to Hamas told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "the participants agreed on certain tactics to avoid a possible Israeli army retaliation that might harm the Palestinians' interests."
