GAZA CITY, 16 July 2006 — Two Palestinians were killed as Israel pounded Gaza with fresh air raids yesterday. Ten people were wounded including three babies, in Israel’s campaign to retrieve a captured soldier. A 25-year-old Palestinian was killed when Israeli aircraft slammed two missiles into a three-story building in Gaza City, which the Israeli Army described as a weapons factory used by Hamas fighters. Three infants and three women were among 10 other people wounded in the strike, medical sources said.
Earlier, an 18-year-old Palestinian was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike in a village near Deir Al-Balah.
Firefighters were searching for bodies among the ruins of the building in Gaza City — which was demolished, with a huge crater dug out by the blast — according to an AFP correspondent. An Israeli Army spokeswoman said the building was being used as a rocket factory and ammunitions depot by members of the ruling group Hamas, and that Hamas members were inside at the time. “The powerful blast that occurred afterward could have been caused by the explosion of ammunition stashed inside the building,” she said. The building belonged to a Hamas member, a professor at the Islamic University in Gaza, although he did not live on the premises.
Some neighbors said the building now served as a shop selling wood for construction work, although others said it was used as a “secret meeting place” for various groups.
Armed members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, swarmed around the building after the attack, pushing journalists away.
Two Israeli air raids early yesterday caused severe damage to the building of the Palestinian Economy Ministry in the north of Gaza City, security sources said.
An army spokeswoman confirmed the strike, saying the ministry offices were targeted “because it is a center for Hamas, which is a terrorist organization.” The raid followed a similar strike on the Gaza headquarters of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
— With input from agencies
