Syria may face retaliation from Israelis

JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders warned Syria on Wednesday that it bears the blame for a double suicide bombing by Hamas militants because it harbors the group's leadership, and they hinted at possible retaliation.

In a first response to Tuesday's attack that killed 16 people in a southern Israeli city, Israeli troops blew up the home of one of the bombers and isolated the West Bank city of Hebron, where the attackers lived. However, Israel was looking farther afield to assign the blame.

"The fact that Hamas is operating from Syria will not grant it immunity," Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told The Associated Press.

The overall leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, and his deputies are based in Syria. Earlier this year Israel assassinated Hamas' founder and his successor in Gaza, throwing the militant Islamic group into temporary disarray. But major decisions are made by Mashaal, not by Hamas leaders in Gaza.

Late Wednesday, Israeli tanks moved into a refugee camp in Gaza, firing shells as helicopters aimed three missiles at a group of Palestinians planting a land mine, Palestinians and the military said. At least seven Palestinians were wounded in the missile strike.

Israeli military officials said the operation was part of a crackdown on terror groups, but it was not immediately clear if it was related to the suicide bombings.

Residents said troops ordered 6,000 residents to leave their houses in a section of the Khan Younis camp, and bulldozers began tearing down a wall around a hospital.

The Israeli army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said Wednesday that those who support terrorism "cannot sleep quietly at night," mentioning Palestinian leaders, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, Syria and Iran.

Sharon added his own implied threat: "Israel's struggle against terrorism will continue unabated. We will apparently need to decide on additional steps to stop terrorism." He did not elaborate.

On Oct. 5, Israeli planes attacked the training camp of another militant group, Islamic Jihad, outside Damascus, the Syrian capital, a day after a female suicide bomber blew up a restaurant in the Israeli port city of Haifa, killing 21 people.

But while Israel and Syria are bitter enemies, the air strike was a rare act of violence. Israel has held Syria's government partly responsible for years of Hezbollah raids from southern Lebanon and has often threatened Syria. In practice, however, the Israelis hesitate to provoke a conflict with Syria, and their border has been calm for decades.