IDF kills two militants in Gaza; Qassam rocket strikes Sderot

An Israel Air Force strike on the northern Gaza Strip killed two Hamas fighters early Saturday, hospital officials said.

The strike came as Israel Defense Forces troops backed by several tanks and bulldozers entered Gaza and searched homes in the Jabalya refugee camp. After a prolonged gunfight with Hamas militants, IDF troops captured four of them and took them to Israel for interrogation.

Also on Saturday, the IAF struck a car carrying Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City. No injuries were reported.

Following the attacks, at least four Qassam rockets were launched at the western Negev. One caused damage to several buildings in central Sderot. No one was hurt.

Saturday's Qassam count marked a sharp reduction in rocket attacks from the Strip. According to the IDF, well over 100 Qassam rockets and 60 mortar shells had been fired at Israel since fighting escalated Tuesday. Thirty-six Palestinians, including at least ten civilians, have been killed in IDF raids during that time.

A spokesman for Hamas militants in Gaza, using the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, would not link Saturday's reduction in fire to IAF strikes or new sanctions introduced Friday and said the tempo could be increased again at any time.

"Sometimes our tactic is to increase fire, sometimes to hold back," he said.

A senior Palestinian Authority official on Saturday blamed the Hamas for the IDF offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"The party which staged a coup against the Palestinian Authority and now rules Gaza is responsible for the condition of the Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian people there," said Information Minister Riyadh al-Maliki, referring to Hamas' takeover of Gaza by force in June.

"Hamas is responsible for the Israeli madness and the massacres the [Israeli] army carries out everyday against our people in Gaza Strip," al-Maliki continued.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was also bitterly critical of the Gaza rocket campaign. "Launching rockets has brought us nothing but catastrophes and hardships," he said Saturday during a visit to the northern West Bank town of Salfit.

On Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also lashed out against Hamas, accusing the group of "destroying the dreams and trying to destroy the future and our national aspirations."

During a visit to Bethlehem to mark the Armenian celebration of Christmas, the Palestinian leader and head of the Fatah faction reiterated his demand for the rival Islamist movement to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip. Abbas also condemned Israel for its actions in Gaza.

"In these times, we must vociferously condemn what is happening in Gaza, and the cruel attack on a beloved part of our land [taking place] every hour, which is harming women, children, and the elderly," the Palestinian leader said.

Earlier Friday, IAF warplanes destroyed the former Interior Ministry building in Gaza City on Friday, killing one woman and wounding at least 45 others nearby. Five of the wounded remained in critical condition on Saturday.

The four-story building, which was emptied when it ceased to house the Hamas-run ministry several months ago, was flattened by the blast, which blew out windows in neighboring high-rises and left hundreds without electricity and water.

The building is located in the heart of a residential neighborhood, and residents said the dead woman was a guest at a wedding party in an adjoining building.

Another IAF missile strike, also on Friday, killed a militant and a teenage boy, and wounded two others in northern Gaza, medical officials said. An IDF spokeswoman confirmed the air strike, saying the target was a squad of militants who had just launched rockets into southern Israel.

Some 25 Qassam rockets and eight mortars hit the western Negev on Friday, causing some damage but no injuries.

A road was damaged in the town of Sderot, and a rocket sparked a fire in Kibbutz Netiv Ha'asara. When firefighters arrived on the scene, a second rocket struck only 50 meters away. There were no injuries. A rocket also came within 40 meters of hitting a local kindergarten, the IDF said.

Government spokesperson David Baker on Friday said Israel would "act decisively and with vigor to bring these rocket attacks to an end."

In addition to the air strike on the former ministry building, IAF jets bombed Hamas' marine police headquarters, causing no injuries.

A spokesperson for the IDF said that a successful attack was launched on two Hamas headquarters in the Gaza Strip, following ongoing rocket fire on Israel. The spokesperson added that the IDF will strive to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens by all means necessary.

Later, the IAF destroyed six rocket launchers in an air strike on the northern Gaza Strip.

UN: Ban Ki-moon "deeply concerned" about Gaza, West Bank violenceUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced Thursday deep concern over a new wave of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, criticizing the mounting number of casualties on both sides.

He urged the IDF to exercise maximum restraint and the Palestinians to immediately cease sniper and rocket attacks on Israel.

"The secretary general is deeply concerned at the current escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel as well as in the West Bank," said UN spokesperson Michelle Montas.

"He is troubled by the heavy bloodshed, particularly the killing and injuring of civilians on both sides and the potential for further casualties unless the situation is de-escalated," she said.

At least seven Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip in three separate IAF strikes Thursday, as Gaza militants pounded southern Israel with Qassam rocket fire for a third straight day, lightly wounding four people.

Meanwhile, militants in the Gaza Strip on Thursday fired more than 40 Qassam rockets and two mortar shells at southern Israel, wounding four people.

	Gazans inspecting damage caused to Hamas' former Interior Ministry building after an IAF strike. (Reuters)