JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli government said it expects an upsurge in attacks by Palestinian hardliners ahead of its Gaza withdrawal, as a top Hamas fighter`s assassination triggered an immediate response with a rocket attack.
The US consul in Jerusalem, meanwhile, warned that Israel`s planned unilateral pullout should be consistent with the internationally-drafted roadmap, which calls for a negotiated solution to the conflict.
"Hamas will want to portray the Gaza withdrawal as escapism on our part, in the same way they believe we were forced out of Lebanon by Hezbollah," said a senior Israeli government official.
He was referring to Israel`s May 2000 pullout from south Lebanon, prompted in large part by sustained attacks by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.
Against the anticipated upsurge in Hamas attacks, "we are determined to continue our strikes against terrorists," added the official on condition of anonymity.
Israel`s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Sunday that the army would not hesitate to fire back at militants "no matter where" at it prepared for the likely scenario of a Gaza withdrawal under Palestinian fire.
"The right way is first to warn those who provide shelter to the terrorists and, if that does not help, to attack the sources of the fire no matter where.
"We must not let them get used to us not responding to fire," Sharon was quoted as saying during the weekly cabinet meeting.
On the ground, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli army fire Monday near a Jewish settlement in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical and security sources said.
Hamas, meanwhile, delivered on its promise to avenge the death of its fighter Khaled Abu Salmieh in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City late Sunday.
The hardline group claimed responsibility for launching a makeshift rocket at the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Monday.
Military sources said the Qassam rocket -- named after the Islamist group`s military wing, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades -- did not cause any casualties.
The army has been battling with rocket attacks for months, including during a five-week raid in the northern Gaza Strip that ended in early August and a four-day offensive in the same area earlier this month.
But every attempt to stop the rocket attacks has failed to date.
The US consul here, David Pearce, stressed that Sharon`s disengagement plan, which involves the dismantlement of all 21 Gaza Jewish settlements and another four on the northern West Bank next year, should be in line with the roadmap.
"We have always said that the disengagement should be consistent with the roadmap and not the end of the process," Pearce told the Palestinian daily Al-Quds in an interview published Monday.
The internationally-drafted roadmap calls for an end to the violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.
Drafted by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia, the peace blueprint was launched in great fanfare by US President George W. Bush in June 2003. Its implementation has stalled amid persistent unrest.
Pearce lauded however Sharon`s planned withdrawal, saying it is "an indication of progress towards achieving Palestinian sovereignty over a territory in formerly occupied land and toward eventually creating a Palestinian state."
Sharon says he opted to unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians after realizing he no longer had a partner for peace.
And the hawkish premier said in an interview earlier this month that the roadmap had to be cast aside for now.
"I came to the conclusion that we will get nowhere along this plan," he told the English-language Jerusalem Post daily, adding it could only be revived if the Palestinians "do what they have to do".