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Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque
Israel destroyed the homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives and bombed one of its mosques on Friday, the seventh day of a blistering offensive in Gaza and the day after a deadly strike killed a prominent Hamas figure.In what appeared to be a new Israeli tactic, the military called at least some of the houses ahead of time to warn inhabitants of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with powerful missiles, Palestinians and Israeli defense officials said. Israel launched the aerial campaign last Saturday in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. The offensive has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but has failed to halt the rocket fire. New attacks Friday struck apartment buildings in a southern Israeli city. No serious injuries were reported. After destroying Hamas' security compounds, Israel has turned its attention to the group's leadership. In airstrike after airstrike early Friday, Israeli warplanes hit some 20 houses believed to belong to Hamas militants and members of other armed groups, Palestinians said. Posted by: ed 2009-01-02 |
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