ARABS-ISRAEL - Dec 13 - Israel Fires On Gaza After Attack On Outpost.

Israel strikes back with missiles at Gaza Strip militants after five Israeli troops were killed in a resurgence of violence that has dented hopes of peace after Yasser Arafat's death. The bloodshed underlined the challenge facing Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate Palestinian leader whose victory in a Jan 9 election to replace Arafat is nearly assured after Marwan Barghouti, a jailed leader of the Palestinian uprising, withdrew. Israeli helicopters fired eight missiles at targets in Gaza City, cutting off electricity when they hit a generator. Another building hit was a metal foundry, which the army said was used to make weapons. There were no reports of casualties. Hours later, Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus killed a gunman from the Islamic militant group Hamas, one of the factions behind an attack Dec 12 on an Israeli military outpost at the border between Gaza and Egypt. Militants have stepped up attacks in Gaza before a planned Israeli withdrawal from the occupied strip next year, hoping to claim a pullout as a victory. The army aims to smash them first. Widening violence in Gaza has dealt a blow to optimists who thought Arafat's death on Nov 11 in a Paris hospital could usher in calm to end a four-year uprising and bring peace to the Middle East after decades of conflict. Israel has said it could talk to a new Palestinian leadership if it reins in militant groups, but would otherwise carry out its plan to withdraw troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip alone. Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio: Our firm demand to the Palestinian Authority, as a preliminary stage, is to stop terror. Stopping terror as a condition to move on is justified". The carefully planned attack Dec 12 on the Israeli post was the army's heaviest loss in seven months. Militants burrowed underneath and set off a large bomb, turning buildings to rubble and killing five soldiers of a Bedouin Arab unit. Israel closed the Rafah border with Egypt, the only real access to the outside world for residents of fenced-in Gaza, who are rarely allowed to cross into Israel. Boim said Israel would respond to violence but still try to ease conditions for Palestinians so that next month's presidential election goes smoothly.