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Israeli air force strikes 20 Hamas targets
(AKI) - The Israeli Air Force attacked 20 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday, on the seventh day of Israel's offensive in the coastal territory. The latest attacks occurred as Hamas leaders urged Palestinians to observe a "day of wrath" and pledged revenge for the assassination of senior Hamas leader, Nizar Rayyan, killed by an Israeli air strike in his home.Medical officials in Gaza said more than 400 people have now been killed there and the United Nations said at least 100 of them are civilians. Among the sites targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces in the latest attacks were the headquarters of the military wing of Hamas, a tunnel used to smuggle weaponry, rocket launchers, and weapons manufacturing and storage facilities. The IDF said it would continue its attacks on Hamas and what it called "terror" groups in Gaza. Two Palestinians were killed and 12 people were wounded in the latest attacks, hospital officials said. "The IDF will continue to target the Hamas infrastructure and the infrastructure of other terror organisations in Gaza," the IDF said in a statement on its website. "The IDF will not hesitate to strike those involved both directly and indirectly in attacks against the citizens of the state of Israel." Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Ismayl Radwan said Palestinians would seek every opportunity to avenge the death of Nizar Rayyan. "After the death of Nizar Rayyan before the Palestinian resistance every opportunity will be used to strike the enemy, including suicide attacks to strike Zionist interests wherever they are around the world," Radwan said, in a statement broadcast on Gaza TV station, al-Aqsa. "They will be sorry for the crimes that they are committing against our people," he said. "I am calling for all Palestinians, and in particular the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas' military wing) to vindicate the death of Rayyan and his family." He also criticised Arab foreign ministers for failing to take any initiatives at the Arab League meeting held in Cairo in the past few days and called on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing. Posted by: Fred 2009-01-03 |
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