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Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque By IBRAHIM BARZAK and MATTI FRIEDMAN (Associated Press Writers) From Associated Press Israel has been building up artillery, armor and infantry on Gaza's border in an indication the week-old air assault against Gaza's Hamas rulers could soon expand with a ground incursion. But at the same time, international calls for a cease-fire have been growing, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected in the region next week to push for a halt to the violence. Israel has so far been cool to a truce, and in a setback for diplomatic efforts, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had no plans to come to the region. "Hamas has held the people of Gaza hostage ever since their illegal coup against the forces of President Mahmoud Abbas," she said. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas' Fatah forces in 2007 and Abbas set up a rival government in the West Bank. Rice charged Hamas "has used Gaza as a launching pad" for firing rockets into the Jewish state and that, as a result, the Palestinians living in Gaza have had "a very bad daily life." She said the U.S. supports a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire, but any halt in fighting would depend on the willingness of Hamas to stop firing rockets into Israel. The offensive spurred anti-Israel protests around the Middle East, the Muslim world and in parts of Europe on Friday. There was no letup in violence Friday, with Israel attacking new targets and Palestinians firing at least 30 rockets into southern Israel. But Israel managed to open its border with Gaza to allow nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports to flee. "There is no water, no electricity, no medicine. It's hard to survive. Gaza is destroyed," Jawaher Haggi, a 14-year-old Palestinian American said after crossing into Israel. She said her uncle was killed in an airstrike when he tried to pick up some medicine for her cancer-stricken father, who died of his illness several days later. Many of the evacuees were foreign-born women married to Palestinians and their children. Spouses who did not hold foreign citizenship were not allowed out. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said most of the evacuees were Russian or Eastern European, and they were allowed to leave at the request of foreign embassies. They said the decision was not related to military plans, including the looming possibility of a ground invasion. Israel launched the aerial campaign last Saturday in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. It has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but failed to halt the rockets. New attacks Friday struck homes in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, wounding four Israelis, two moderately, police said. Before the airstrikes Friday, Israel's military called at least some of the houses to warn residents of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with missiles, Palestinians and Israeli officials said. After destroying Hamas' security compounds, Israel turned its attention to the group's leadership. In airstrike after airstrike, warplanes hit some 20 houses believed to belong to Hamas militants and members of other armed groups, Palestinians said. They said the Israelis either warned nearby residents by phone or fired a warning missile to try to reduce civilian casualties. Israeli planes also dropped leaflets east of Gaza giving a confidential phone number and e-mail address for people to report locations of rocket squads. Residents stepped over the leaflets. Israel used similar tactics during its 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Most of the targeted homes Friday belonged to activist leaders and appeared to be empty at the time, but one man was killed in a strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. Separate airstrikes killed five other Palestinians - including a young teenage boy east of Gaza City and three children - two brothers and their cousin - who were playing in southern Gaza, according to Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain. More than 400 Gazans have been killed and some 1,700 have been wounded in the Israeli campaign, Gaza health officials said. Hamas has said around half of the dead are members of its security forces. The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinians Territories estimated Friday that at least a quarter of the 400 Palestinians killed and about 2,000 people have been wounded. Three Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died in the rocket attacks, which have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, bringing an eighth of Israel's population of 7 million within rocket range. The mosque destroyed Friday was known as a Hamas stronghold, and the army said it was used to store weapons. It also was identified with Nizar Rayan, the Hamas militant leader killed Thursday when Israel dropped a one-ton bomb on his home. That airstrike killed 20 people, including all four of Rayan's wives and 11 of his 12 children. The strike on Rayan's home obliterated the four-story apartment building and peeled off the walls of others around it, carving out a vast field of rubble. Israel's military said the homes of Hamas leaders are being used to store missiles and other weapons, and the hit on Rayan's house triggered secondary explosions from the stockpile there. Israel has targeted Hamas leaders many times in the past, but halted the practice during a six-month truce that expired last month. Most of Hamas' leaders went into hiding at the start of Israel's offensive. Fear of Israeli attacks led to sparse turnout at Friday's communal prayers at mosques throughout Gaza. But thousands of people attended a memorial service for Rayan. Throngs of people prayed over the rubble of his home and the destroyed mosque nearby. An imam delivered his sermon over a car loudspeaker as the bodies of Rayan and other family members were covered in green Hamas flags. Following the prayers, a sea of mourners marched with the bodies, with many people reaching out to touch and kiss them. "The Palestinian resistance will not forget and will not forgive," said Hamas lawmaker Mushir Masri, calling the assassination a "serious" development. "The resistance's response will be very painful." While keeping up the military pressure, Israel has offered a small opening for the intense diplomatic efforts, saying it would consider a halt to the fighting. But it has attached the strict condition that international monitors enforce the truce. The current fighting follows a six-month truce that was repeatedly violated by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire. Concerned about protests, Israeli police stepped up security and restricted access to Friday prayers at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, barring all males under 50 from entering. Prayers in Jerusalem ended without incident, though in a nearby east Jerusalem neighborhood youths clashed with anti-riot police on horseback. No injuries were reported. Jerusalem's mufti, Mohammed Hussein, said a mere 3,000 Palestinians attended Friday's prayers because of the tough restrictions, which barred all males under the age of 50 from entering. "We condemn these measures, and we believe they contradict the principle of freedom of worship," Hussein said. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian police broke up a demonstration by about 3,000 Hamas supporters and arrested about a dozen people. Police also broke up a similar protest in the nearby town of Qalandia. There were anti-Israel protests in Hebron, Nablus and elsewhere in the West Bank. --- Matti Friedman reported from Jerusalem. |
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