GAZA CITY/RAMALLAH, 19 January 2008 — Israel bombed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza and closed border crossings with the strip yesterday, sharply escalating what it called a campaign to halt Palestinian rocket attacks. The four-story ministry complex in Gaza City was empty at the time but one woman was killed and at least 30 others nearby were wounded in the airstrike, medical officials said.
It was the first Israeli bombing of a Palestinian government building since Hamas Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip in June after routing secular Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas. A second Israeli airstrike minutes later damaged Hamas’ naval headquarters in the central Gaza Strip.
The violence has prompted the Palestinians to caution that peace talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, spurred by a visit by US President George W. Bush, were in jeopardy. A senior Palestinian official said that Abbas has threatened to resign from his post and disband Palestinian peace negotiations team if Israel continues its operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The official told the Palestinian daily Al-Qods that Abbas said “he will resign if the military escalation and daily killings continue.” “Israel’s actions undermine the Palestinian Authority and drive more Palestinians into the open arms of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”
According to the official, Abbas was particularly enraged that Israel had stepped up its military operations shortly after US President George W. Bush’s visit to the region. Israeli forces operating in West Bank and Gaza Strip killed 34 Palestinian since last Tuesday.
“The military escalation is being seen as a direct result of Bush’s visit to Ramallah,” the official said. “This puts President Abbas in an uncomfortable position and makes him look as if he’s part of the aggression.”
Earlier yesterday, the Israeli Defense Ministry closed all Israel’s border crossings with Gaza and prevented the delivery of a UN aid shipment. Only so-called “humanitarian cases” given Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s personal approval would be allowed through, the ministry said.
“If milk is low in Gaza, the minister will be asked to approve a milk shipment, and it will enter,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said. Gaza is home to 1.5 million people, most of whom depend on foreign aid.
“Gaza is completely shut down. This will only add to an already dire situation,” said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, whose aid shipment yesterday was blocked.
