Violence Continues In Gaza

JERUSALEM, May 18 — Israel struck more targets of the Palestinian faction Hamas today, while forces from the groups Palestinian rival, Fatah, fired mortar shells at Hamass Islamic University and exchanged gunfire with fighters inside.

But while the rhetoric of all parties remained fiery, the warfare of recent days seemed to be lessening, both inside Gaza and outside, with even the number of Qassam rockets fired toward Israel decreasing.

Israeli officials said the ebb was due to their military actions, which included air strikes against Hamas command positions, headquarters and rocket-firing teams. Israel vowed to keep up its attacks in order to try to deter further rocket firing into the Israeli town of Sderot, even as preparations for rocket attacks increased in the larger Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a retired general and member of the Israeli cabinet, said: We have to show them one thing, that the moment you fire, we shall return fire.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told foreign diplomats that Israel would continue to exert pressure on Hamas in the Gaza territory, where Israel withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005.

Sometimes there are needs to show determination, to put pressure on the extremists, to put pressure on these terrorists, in order for them to understand that this is not something that is tolerable, she said. For too long the international community took this situation in the south part of Israel as acceptable, as part of life in Israel — and its not.

Egypts ambassador to Israel, Muhammad Ibrahim, defended Israels actions as a defense against rocket attacks, and bemoaned the Palestinian infighting.

Every country is entitled to defend its borders and its people, Mr. Ibrahim said. Something very bad is happening. Palestinians are killing each other in the last few days, I think more than 50 casualties and tens of injuries and destroyed property. The Israeli retaliation, because of whats happening in Sderot, can also complicate the situation. You have to stop the hostile activities immediately. Casualties from every side are falling.

Early this morning, Israeli warplanes attacked a Hamas headquarters building near the Karni border crossing with Israel. Five Palestinians were killed, at least three of them from Hamas, and six more were wounded. The Israeli army said that the base may have also been used to cover smuggling tunnels into Israel.

Other Israeli strikes hit another Hamas building in central Gaza, near Deir al Baleh, but there were no reported casualties from that strike, in large part because Hamas has moved its personnel out of buildings that are likely to be targets for the Israeli air force.

Another strike at a rocket-launching team killed another Palestinian and wounded a second, Palestinians said.

This evening, an Israeli helicopter fired rockets into a van in Gaza City that was carrying Palestinian fighters; witnesses said that two Hamas members were killed in that attack.

The Israeli army said that militants fired 14 Qassam rockets on Friday and 12 of them hit Israeli territory, lightly wounding three Sderot residents. One rocket hit a house, but the residents were out shopping; another landed near a gasoline station.

Hamas fighters have been inside the Islamic University complex for days, trying to protect it from another Fatah attack like one last year that badly damaged the school, one of the prime means for Hamas to convert Palestinians to its Islamist cause. Hamas guards at the university have been killed by snipers in previous days; today, Fatah fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at the school, setting one building on fire, and they exchanged gunshots with Hamas men inside.

Fatah said that Hamas fighters were using the university as a base for attacks on nearby police stations.

The president of the university, Kamelen Shaath, appealed for an end to the fighting. Universities must be outside the circle of violence, and I appeal to the president and all the wise people on both sides to try to spare the university the agony of this fight.

Steven Erlannger reported from Jerusalem, and Jon Elsen from New York. Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Aqaba, Jordan, and Safwat al-Kahlout contributed from Gaza City.

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