Israel Attacks Palestinian PM's Office

02/07/2006| IslamWeb

An Israeli helicopter gunship has fired a missile at the Gaza City office of the Palestinian prime minister, setting it alight.

Ismail Haniya was not in the office at the time of the attack which took place shortly before 2am on Sunday.

Haniya visited the site of the air attack shortly afterwards and called on the international community to end Israel's offensive.

A Palestinian was killed in another missile attack on a Hamas office in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya, witnesses said.

An Israeli aircraft also fired a missile at a Gaza school founded by the late Hamas spiritual leader, Shaikh Ahmad Yassin, witnesses said. There were no casualties.   

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that the air force had attacked Haniya's office, but had no immediate word on the other strikes.

Israel sent troops and tanks into the Gaza Strip after Palestinian fighters abducted one of its soldiers in a cross-border raid last Sunday.

Civilian infrastructure and facilities used by the Palestinian government have also been attacked by air strikes.

Israel has repeatedly threatened Haniya after the soldier's capture.

Warning

A senior official from Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas' office said on Saturday that Haniya's life could be on the line if a solution were not reached soon allowing the release of the 19-year-old Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit.

Without explicitly singling out Haniya, Israeli officials have said that those involved in militant acts against Israel are not immune from possible attack.

When asked about any possible Israeli assassination of the Gaza-based Hamas prime minister, Benjamin  Ben-Eliezer, the Israeli infrastructure minister, said:   "We make no distinction between terrorists. No one involved in terrorism has any immunity".

Photo Caption

Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya