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Last update - 03:02 30/12/2008
Israel targets senior Hamas, Islamic Jihad commanders in fresh Gaza strikes
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Hamas, Israel, Israel News 

An Israeli air strike on Monday destroyed the Gaza Strip home of a top commander in Hamas' armed wing, killing seven people, including several members of his immediate family, Palestinian medics and local residents said.

The senior Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades commander, Maher Zaqout, was not at home at the time, Hamas said.

At least 20 people were injured in the blast, as the Israeli assault on the Hamas-controlled Strip neared the end of its third day.
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The strike was followed closely by another aerial assault, this time on a vehicle carrying cooking gas. Medics and witnesses said that five Palestinians were killed and that their bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

Later that night, Israeli aircraft dropped at least 16 bombs on five Hamas government buildings, destroying them, setting fires and sending rubble flying hundreds of meters away, witnesses said. Ambulances raced to the scene. Rescue workers said 40 people were injured.

The three-day death toll rose to at least 320 by Monday afternoon, including eight children under the age of 17 who were killed in two separate strikes overnight, medics said.

Israel launched its campaign, the deadliest against Palestinians in decades, on Saturday, in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.

Earlier Monday, Four Islamic Jihad members, including senior commander Ziad Abu-Tir, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip.

Early Monday morning, the IAF obliterated symbols of Hamas power, bombing the Islamic University, closely affiliated with Hamas, and a government compound in Gaza. The Israel Air Force also targeted a house next to the Hamas premier's home, devastating a security compound and flattening a five-story building at a university closely linked to the Islamic group.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a Knesset session Monday that the military was fighting a "war to the bitter end against Hamas."

The strikes have driven Hamas leaders into hiding and appear to have gravely damaged the organization's ability to launch rockets, but barrages continued. Sirens warning of incoming rockets sent Israelis scrambling for cover throughout the day.

One medium-range rocket fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon killed a Bedouin construction worker there Monday and wounded several others. He was the second Israeli killed since the beginning of the offensive, and the first person ever to be killed by a rocket in Ashkelon, a city of 120,000.

Meanwhile, in in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Palestinians said a toddler and his two teenage brothers were killed in an airstrike aimed at a Hamas commander.

IAF warplanes bombed Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry on Monday, the first air strike that targeted a government building in Israel's offensive, the Palestinian faction said.

No immediate word was available on whether there were any casualties.

At first light Monday, strong winds blew black smoke from the bombed sites in Gaza City over deserted streets. The air hummed with the buzz of pilotless drones and the roar of jets, punctuated by the explosions of new airstrikes.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said the military action would go on until the population in southern Israel "no longer live in terror and in fear of constant rocket barrages".

"(The operation could) take many days," said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avi Benayahu.

At least 51 civilians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes since Saturday, according to a tally by a UN aid agency.

"It is likely to be conservative and it is certainly rising," UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness said on Monday. He said the estimate was based on visits by UNRWA officials to hospitals and medical centres across the Gaza Strip.

Hamas defied the strongest assault against Palestinian militants in decades by launching a rocket attack on Israel that killed one person, the second such fatality since Saturday.

Most Gazans in the densely populated enclave stayed at home, in rooms away from windows that could shatter in blasts from air strikes on Hamas facilities. Residents of southern Israel ran for shelter at the sound of alarms heralding incoming rockets.

"At no time could we leave the kids unattended. They trembled every time there was a bombing, day and night, and all of us had almost no sleep," said Umm Hassan, a mother of seven.

An IAF raid flattened a building in the heart of a residential neighborhood in Gaza, sending a cloud of dust into the air, shaking nearby dwellings and wounding five people. It was not immediately clear why the structure, which was apparently empty, was targeted.

Israel declared areas around Gaza a "closed military zone", citing the risk from Palestinian rocket fire, and ordering journalists observing a buildup of armored forces to leave.

"You've got to go," an army spokesman told a Reuters correspondent after she appealed a military police directive to clear out.

Excluding the press could help Israel keep under wraps its preparations for a possible ground assault against Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza, following three days of air strikes that have caused chaos, turned some buildings to rubble and left hospitals struggling to cope.

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      1.   University Center of Terrorism 08:25  |  Baruch Gold 29/12/08
      2.   Hamas had it coming 08:32  |  Samuel Prime 29/12/08
      3.   hanyieh 08:48  |  vik 29/12/08
      4.   More Of The Same! 08:52  |  Clickfool 29/12/08
      5.   Israel striking Gaza 08:57  |  Larry54 29/12/08
      6.   Good job Israel! 09:14  |  Dan Winblad 29/12/08
      7.   What`s not in the news 09:17  |  Colin Wright 29/12/08
      8.   #4 Clickfool: finally,no more of the same 09:18  |  dan 29/12/08
      9.   The Army of terror 09:21  |  Defiant palestinian 29/12/08
      10.   Collective punishment? 09:36  |  Jehudah Ben-Israel 29/12/08
      11.   Clickfool - Nobody Knows 09:51  |  Mark of Lewiston 29/12/08
      12.   you are fool 10:00  |  someone 29/12/08
      13.   Destroying this rocket laboratory was long overdue 10:12  |  Dr. L. Brnd 29/12/08
      14.   #4, the fool simply does not understand 10:23  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 29/12/08
      15.   islamic university in gaza 10:29  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 29/12/08
      16.   Defiant Palestinian, you are "still here" because Israel has no 10:35  |  Jehudah Ben-Israel 29/12/08
      17.   # 7, defiant palestinian 10:36  |  dan 29/12/08
      18.   They hiding most of their weapons in Mosques and their hospital 10:41  |  Susanna/Shoshana 29/12/08
      19.   Islam University 10:45  |  Jules Kadish 29/12/08
      20.   For Mark of Lewiston (and Dan) # 11 10:54  |  Clickfool 29/12/08
      21.   Israel destroys Islamic University 11:06  |  Samuel 29/12/08
      22.   Trans-Egypt 11:10  |  El Gphyzul 29/12/08
      23.   Go For it Israel 11:47  |  Pierre 29/12/08
      24.   Clickfool and the Spirit of the British Empire 12:00  |  Ehud 29/12/08
      25.   Answer to Clickfool, the fake and the real 12:14  |  Israeli citizen 29/12/08
      26.   to Israelis 12:40  |  Sara 29/12/08
      27.   a storage site and sciece labs used by terrorists 13:31  |  zionist forever 29/12/08
      28.   99.9 per cent of structures left untouched. 13:34  |  r 29/12/08
      29.   #26, Sara 13:35  |  Tony Price 29/12/08
      30.   #16 Jehuda Ben Israel 13:45  |  Tony Price 29/12/08
      31.   To someone in Gaza 13:59  |  Jackie 29/12/08
      32.   Reply to 22 14:04  |  Jackie 29/12/08
      33.   Israel destroys Islamic university 14:13  |  Birdi 29/12/08
      34.   I fully agree with those claiming that Hamas... 14:35  |  Aldo 29/12/08
      35.   completley agree 14:37  |  Freemasons 29/12/08
      36.   killing civilians and bombing university ! 14:43  |  ahmet 29/12/08
      37.   Hey, We`ll NEVER Recognize Israel 14:54  |  Nour 29/12/08
      38.   university 15:08  |  Marcio 29/12/08
      39.   Academics 15:11  |  Syper Cynic 29/12/08
      40.   Some university 15:15  |  Angel 29/12/08
      41.   what`s happening there !! it`s not what we`ve got 15:33  |  Jan 29/12/08
      42.   # 3 CLICKERS bad day eh? 15:39  |  Petra 29/12/08
      43.   # 12 AHH POOR BABY. 15:41  |  Petra 29/12/08
      44.   AGAIN HITTING EMPTY REAL ESTATE IS A WASTE OF BOMBS 15:42  |  jewish DOCTOR 29/12/08
      45.   # 44 JEWISH DR. 15:56  |  Petra 29/12/08
      46.   51 civilians - a conservative number from UNWRA? 17:52  |  Jon 29/12/08
      47.   I would appreciate if Haaretz would allow me to post 17:53  |  Jon 29/12/08
      48.   @Nour - Never recognize 17:55  |  Protected civilian 29/12/08
      49.   Stop Calling Us Zionists - We`re Israelis!!! 17:55  |  Noami 29/12/08
      50.   I would like to appologize to all the Israel bashers 17:56  |  Avi 29/12/08
      51.   Islamic University teaches what? 17:58  |  John 29/12/08
      52.   #30, Tony Price 17:58  |  JB 29/12/08
      53.   Re: #9 The Army of Terror 18:08  |  Douglas Fireman 29/12/08
      54.   Moore pinpoint bombings 18:17  |  Bo - Denmark 29/12/08
      55.   #42 Petra 18:19  |  Warren J 29/12/08
      56.   Clickfool #4 18:21  |  BRL 29/12/08
      57.   Admirations from Mumbay 18:23  |  Friends from India 29/12/08
      58.   Maher Zaqout, was not at home at the time 18:28  |  vik 29/12/08
      59.   The level of intelligence the Israeli`s have is impressive... 18:40  |  William 29/12/08
      60.   #4 - Clickidiot 19:11  |  MichaelF 29/12/08
      61.   #42, Petra will choke on its candy... 19:13  |  Silvienne 29/12/08
      62.   You may "get away" with it right now, but as I said....... 19:20  |  Swiss (Dino) 29/12/08
      63.   To Jules Kadish 19:23  |  Jacob 29/12/08
      64.   To #9 defiant palestinian 19:35  |  Eli 29/12/08
      65.   This is a message to the world 19:36  |  An American 29/12/08
      66.   #12 - to someone, hamas has already 19:37  |  Adrian de Klerk 29/12/08
      67.   to Nour please... 19:52  |  Tina 29/12/08
      68.   law of jungle 20:09  |  ihsan 29/12/08
      69.   Jewish Doctor in New York 20:09  |  Chris Linthwaite 29/12/08
      70.   Response to Dan Winbald 20:18  |  Rafiq 29/12/08
      71.   Israel?s mission? 20:39  |  Neve Gordon 29/12/08
      72.   Hamas University 20:41  |  Maerton 29/12/08
      73.   The Human Sufferings 20:41  |  Abdellah 29/12/08
      74.   Reply to Nour 20:45  |  Maerton 29/12/08
      75.   Ihsan - law of Hamas 20:45  |  David Israel 29/12/08
      76.   Clicky, remind me why you brought nuclear weapons to Falkand? 20:51  |  Dan 29/12/08
      77.   #4 and #11 - Mark Lewiston and Clickfool 20:57  |  Maurice 29/12/08
      78.   Chris Linthwaite # 52 That Is Required 21:03  |  Jeff Northridge 29/12/08
      79.   To Abdellah # 55. Universal judgements are machines also, painful 21:27  |  Israeli citizen 29/12/08
      80.   Nour # 37 That`s What They All Say To Begin With 21:30  |  Jeff Northridge 29/12/08
      81.   Chris Linthwaite and you will be pleased to hear that 21:36  |  David Israel 29/12/08
      82.   Others Born to Continue the way to the Victory 21:41  |  Palestine.my.love 29/12/08
      83.   #4, 11 and 58 21:43  |  Critical observer 29/12/08
      84.   Abdellah 21:44  |  rich 29/12/08
      85.   Hamistan wannabees: blood is on your hands 21:49  |  Paul Freedman 29/12/08
      86.   # 56 21:54  |  Lebanese gurl 29/12/08
      87.   Abdellah 21:56  |  Taly 29/12/08
      88.   to Nour #37, your choice not to recognize anything but 21:58  |  dardas 29/12/08
      89.   to # 9 22:03  |  Lebanese gurl 29/12/08
      90.   #51 ihsan, how many palestinians your country welcomed 22:06  |  dardas 29/12/08
      91.   cooking gas 22:06  |  Don 29/12/08
      92.   Lebanese girl 22:32  |  Dan 29/12/08
      93.   Ahmet from Izmir 22:48  |  David Israel 29/12/08
      94.   So far..10 Hamas operatives killed. 22:51  |  Simon 29/12/08
      95.   EU UN Where was the stand against barrage of rockets all the year 22:55  |  o please!!!!!!!!!!!! 29/12/08
      96.   Angel -how do you know? 22:56  |  Palestinian Brit 29/12/08
      97.   #7 Defiant Pal, Igorant human 23:21  |  William 29/12/08
      98.   Nour#37 - Hey, We`ll NEVER Recognize Israel 23:25  |  William 29/12/08
      99.   attack on university 23:28  |  Jonezen 29/12/08
      100.   This works only if 23:38  |  Dave Duncan 29/12/08
      101.   Clickfool, you were a Hillary supporter during US elections 23:43  |  Mark B. 29/12/08
      102.   Mark of Lewiston....war is exactly what Iran 23:59  |  Lynn 29/12/08
      103.   How can Livni be so crass 00:01  |  Peter 30/12/08
      104.   My best wishes... 00:34  |  Jess 30/12/08
      105.   Response to Peter (post #69) 01:11  |  flyingdoc57 30/12/08
      106.   #62 01:56  |  Douglas Fireman 30/12/08
      107.   Peter # 69 Operation Cast Lead 02:46  |  Jeff Northridge 30/12/08
      108.   Peter 69 on responsibility: 02:48  |  Stephen in New York 30/12/08
      109.   It reminds me of 1960 03:21  |  Mark Lincoln 30/12/08
      110.   Response To Peter`s Post #70 03:57  |  Douglas Fireman 30/12/08
      111.   82 .Palestine.my.love 09:13  |  a wandering Jew 30/12/08
      112.   You make enemies faster than you can kill them. 21:39  |  Samuel L Kent 30/12/08
      113.   American Citizen`s Opinion 00:04  |  Lisa George 31/12/08
      114.   Hamas and Gaza 04:51  |  Gerard Ringer 31/12/08
      115.   #9 the Army of terror 14:14  |  Alan 31/12/08
      116.   #21 2ND TRY Samuel - you`re partially correct 18:14  |  *BEN JABO 31/12/08
      117.   comment 21:06  |  david mohamed chris 06/01/09
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