Hamas sees Israeli moves as declaration of war

Israel suspended formal security ties to the Palestinian government yesterday in what Hamas said amounted to "a declaration of war".

European Union Foreign Ministers added to US and Israeli pressure on the Islamic militant group by approving a temporary halt in direct EU aid to the new government.

Thousands of Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza, protesting Western aid cuts and a spike in Israeli military strikes since election victor Hamas took control of the Palestinian Authority in late March.

An Israeli shell killed a young Palestinian girl and injured 12 others, including five children, when it hit a house in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

Israel says the shelling in Gaza is meant to combat rocket attacks by militants.

Avi Dichter, a top adviser to interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told Israel radio that a ground assault of Gaza could not be ruled out.

"We have done it in the past and can do so in the present," said Mr Dichter, who may be appointed to a senior security post in Mr Olmert's new Cabinet.

In statements issued in quick succession yesterday, President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas denounced Israel for branding the Palestinian Authority a "hostile entity".

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement in Gaza that Israel's decision to sever contacts with the Palestinian Authority constituted "a declaration of war and a failed attempt to cause internal divisions among Palestinians".

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mr Abbas said Israel's position "completely violates the agreements we have signed with them and violates international law".

"We demand from this Israeli government to stop such measures", said Mr Abbas, whose Fatah faction was crushed by Hamas in an election in January.

Having ruled out contacts with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, the Israeli army moved yesterday to suspend remaining security coordination.

At a joint coordination office near the West Bank city of Jericho, Palestinian Colonel Khaled Ziyar and his men piled their belongings onto a pick-up truck and turned keys to the facility over to the Israelis.

Before they drove away, the Palestinian officers took down posters of Mr Abbas and a Palestinian flag.

The Jericho district coordination office, located on the outskirts of Jericho, was the last security facility to be manned by both Israelis and Palestinians. In other parts of the West Bank, cooperation was done by telephone.