Palestinian Rocket Kills 1, First in a Year

JERUSALEM (March 18) -- Palestinian gunmen fired a mortar shell from Gaza into Israel today, killing a migrant worker in the first fatality from a rocket attack in more than a year. The attack comes as tensions in Israel are already running high due to a crisis with the U.S. and violent demonstrations in Jerusalem.

The attack occurred soon after European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, in the first high-level visit to Gaza by a Western diplomat in more than a year.

A spokesman for Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency rescue service, said the man killed was about 30 years old, from Thailand, and had been working in a greenhouse when the mortar struck. A small Islamist faction calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamist Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, has recently taken steps to stop rocket fire from Gaza.

"Even if Hamas didn't fire the rocket, it is responsible," said Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i soon after the attack.

Israel's deputy premier, Silvan Shalom, vowed that Israel will respond to the attack. "The Israeli response will be appropriate and strong," he said. "This is a crossing of the red line which Israel cannot accept."

Last December, Israel launched a large-scale incursion into Gaza to try to stop heavy rocket and mortar fire. A month of heavy fighting left some 1,400 Palestinians dead, along with 13 Israelis. A United Nations report accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes and urged independent investigations. Since the fighting ended in January, there has been almost no rocket fire, although officials say Palestinians have fired five rockets in the past 28 hours.

Today's attack increased tensions in Israel, which had already been running high. Earlier this week, Palestinians held violent demonstrations in Jerusalem to protest Israel's dedication of an ancient synagogue some 400 yards from the al-Aqsa mosque. Hamas called for a "day of rage," warning that Israel was threatening the mosque.

Tensions between the U.S. and Israel also remain high over Israel's plan to build 1,600 homes in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The plan was announced as Vice President Joseph Biden was in Jerusalem to try to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and embarrassed President Barack Obama. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized for the bad timing and claimed he did not know that the interior minister, Eli Yishai, planned to make the announcement.

"The actions that were taken by the interior minister in Israel weren't helpful. ... Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged as much and apologized for it," Obama told Fox News. ""What we need right now is both sides to recognize that it is in their interests to move this peace process forward."

The president also sought to play down reports of irreparable damage done to U.S.-Israel relations.

"Israel is one of our closest allies, and we and the Israeli people have a special bond that's not going to go away," Obama said, adding, "But friends are going to disagree sometimes."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travels to Moscow today for a meeting of the U.S., the U.N., the EU and Russia to discuss restarting the peace process. Special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell is expected to come to Israel next week after delaying his trip this week because of the crisis between the U.S. and Israel.