Israel 'to intensify' Gaza shelling

JERUSALEM, April 12 (UPI) -- Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned Wednesday Israel would increase shelling the Gaza strip unless Palestinian rockets attacks stopped.

"As long as calm does not prevail on the Israeli side, neither will it do so on the Palestinian side," Mofaz said. "Our operations are going to intensify."

For months, the Israeli army has been firing artillery rounds into open areas of northern Gaza to target and deter militants, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the Jerusalem Post Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip sent an urgent letter to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh asking for help.

"They are demanding that we issue instructions to the security forces to prevent the rocket attacks," the official said. "But how can we stop the rockets when we don't have control over most of these forces?"

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently decided to place most of the authority's security forces under his direct control, in a clear attempt to block Hamas from controlling them. The National Security Force, which is supposed to prevent gunmen from firing rockets at Israel, reports to Abbas and not the Interior minister, the newspaper said.