Aircraft blast Palestinian premier's office
Israeli aircraft blasted the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas early today, the latest military move aimed at winning freedom for an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas militants in Gaza.
Diplomatic efforts to free Cpl Gilad Shalit, 19, involving Egypt and other regional players, have been under way since he was seized a week ago in a cross-border raid.
Later today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz were meeting security officials to discuss whether to give diplomacy more time or to escalate the military operation. Last week Olmert called off plans to broaden the Israeli incursion into southern Gaza to the coastal strip’s north in a nod to the diplomatic activity.
Palestinians said two missiles fired by attack helicopters set the premier’s office ablaze early today but it was empty, witnesses said. One bystander was slightly injured, hospital officials said.
In a statement about the attack, the Israeli military said it would “employ all means at its disposal ... to secure the safe return” of Shalit.
Inspecting his burning office, Haniyeh called the Israeli attack senseless. “They have targeted a symbol for the Palestinian people,” he said.
Roni Bar-On, an Israeli Cabinet minister, said the point of the attack on Haniyeh’s office was to “compromise the Hamas government’s ability to rule.
“We will strike and will continue to strike at (Hamas’) institutions,” said Bar-On, an Olmert ally. “They have to understand that we will not continue to let them run amok.”
Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction, took power after winning January parliamentary elections.
Although Israel has said repeatedly in the past that Haniyeh could be a target for assassination, the gunmen holding Shalit are thought to take their orders from Hamas’ Damascus-based political chief, Khaled Mashaal, so the attack on Haniyeh’s office appeared to be more symbolic than aimed at killing him.
In other airstrikes after midnight, Israeli aircraft hit a school in Gaza city and Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, where a Hamas militant was killed and another wounded, Palestinian officials said. The military said they were ”planning terror attacks against Israel”.
The 34-year-old Hamas gunman was the second militant killed in the five-day Israeli operation.
Exerting pressure on Hamas from various directions, Israel continued to hold 64 Hamas leaders rounded up in the West Bank on Thursday night. Eight Cabinet ministers were among those arrested.
After the Israeli airstrike on his office, Haniyeh met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for an hour to discuss the Israeli attacks and efforts to keep the government functioning despite the arrests, the prime minister’s office said.
In a statement, Haniyeh called for foreign intervention to stop the Israeli offensive. “The international community must shoulder its responsibility,” he said.
Israeli media, meanwhile, reported that border crossings with Gaza, sealed after the attack, would be reopened later today to allow for the flow of food and medical supplies.
The offensive has left many residents without electricity or water. The international Red Cross said it was working to get aid shipments into the area.
Yesterday Hamas demanded the release of more than 1,000 prisoners held by Israel, but Israel rejected that out of hand.
Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad urged Israel to be more flexible.
“I think that if the Israeli government will understand that it’s possible to release prisoners, things will end OK,” Hamad told Army Radio. “If not, I think the situation will be very difficult for us and for you, too. ... Maybe there will be a (military) escalation and people will die.”
Peretz met with senior security officials Saturday night and then called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge the Bush administration to step up pressure on Syria to work for Shalit’s release, Israeli officials said.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country that has close ties with Israel, called US President George W Bush on Saturday and talked for 30 minutes about the crisis.
“The president said that the initial goal should be freeing the Israeli soldier – that is the key to ending the crisis,” said Frederick Jones, spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House.
There has been no direct evidence of the soldier’s condition since he was seized.
