Sunday, July 02, 2006

IDF bombs Haniyeh's office in Gaza

From JPost, Jun. 30, 2006, by HAVIV RETTIG, YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP ...

IAF helicopter gunships attacked the office of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City overnight Saturday, setting the building on fire. One bystander was lightly wounded, hospital officials said. Witnesses said two missiles hit the south side of the building, setting it ablaze. Due to the late hour, the building was empty, they said.

The IDF confirmed the air strike, saying that it wanted to make clear to the most senior Hamas officials that it held the organization directly responsible for the kidnapping of IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit. An IDF spokesman said that the army would "employ all means at its disposal ... to secure the safe return" of the soldier.

...In other airstrikes overnight, the IAF fired missiles at a school in Gaza City and at Hamas facilities in the northern Gaza town of Jabalya, where a Hamas operative was killed and another was wounded... the operatives were "planning terror attacks against Israel."

Earlier Saturday, about five IDF tanks and bulldozers moved into the mostly empty Abasan area near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, Palestinian security officials said. There were no reports of fighting or casualties. IDF activity in the Gaza Strip was continuing Saturday, with Navy and ground artillery shelling targets in both the northern and southern parts of the Strip.
The shelling of the southern regions were done out of concern that the Palestinians were preparing to transport Shalit to a new location. An army assessment believed he was being held in southern Gaza.

...Meanwhile, the Palestinian deputy minister of prisoner affairs said that kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit has received medical treatment for his wounds and is in stable condition.
Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Ziad Abu Aen cited unidentified "mediators" as telling him that Shalit... "...has three wounds," Abu Aen said. "I guess shrapnel wounds." ....The doctor's visit, which apparently took place on Thursday, came after pressure from Egypt led Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to approve the checkup. The kidnappers had originally refused to allow a visit.

...Shalit's kidnappers issued a new set of demands early Saturday calling on Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza and ordering the release of 1,000 prisoners. The demands did not explicitly say that Shalit would be returned in exchange for the requested actions. The notice was signed by three organizations: the armed wing of Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam.

In response, Israeli officials reiterated that there would be no negotiations with terrorist organizations over Shalit's release.....

AP contributed to this report.

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