Israeli Strike in Gaza Strip Kills 8

By SARAH EL DEEB

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The Israeli air force fired a missile at a house in Gaza City, killing eight people, residents and hospital officials said, in the deadliest attack since Israel started hitting back for rocket salvos from Gaza last week.

The airstrike late Sunday, which followed an Israeli government decision to step up counterstrikes against Islamic militants, hit the home of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, who was not there and was unharmed.

At least 13 people were wounded. All the dead and wounded were relatives and neighbors, his wife said. Hamas said two of the dead were militants.

Al-Haya was one of the Hamas representatives in cease-fire talks with Fatah and was attending an Egyptian-sponsored truce meeting just before the airstrike, residents said.

Relatives said the missile hit a room used as a meeting place for the extended family. There was little damage visible from the missile strike, but mattresses where the people were apparently sitting were strewn around the room.

The army said the airstrike was aimed not at al-Haya’s home but at a nearby group of five armed Hamas men, including a senior militant. The army said the missile hit the gunmen, not the house.

At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, there was pandemonium as cars brought in the victims, some of them dismembered by the blast. Al-Haya went to the hospital to visit his wounded relatives.

"We will go ahead despite the challenges, despite the martyrs, despite the pain that I am suffering and my people are suffering," he told reporters at the hospital.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the killed were civilian members of the al-Haya family, and the attack was a sign that Israel is targeting "everyone – civilians and leaders."

"This escalation is very serious," he said, adding that "all options are open" for responding. In a statement, Hamas called for its military wing "respond with all means to these crimes."

Early Monday, Israeli aircraft struck four more times in Gaza, the army said, killing one Hamas militant. The military said two of the targets were Hamas and Islamic Jihad weapons factories. Palestinians said one was a cement factory and the other was a house.

In a statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for international pressure to stop the Israeli attacks.

The Israeli government decided Sunday to step up military action aimed at the two main Islamic militant groups in Gaza. "The operations will focus on Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, who are responsible for the current escalation," the government said in a statement, but stopped short of approving a large-scale ground invasion.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Israel would not differentiate between militant and political leaders in its strikes. "Everyone who deals with terror against us should take cover," Dichter told Channel 2 TV on Sunday.

Since last week, 36 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes.

Despite the airstrikes, Gaza militants fired four more rockets at Israel on Monday, the army said. There were no casualties.

The Israeli airstrikes appeared to help cement a truce between the warring Palestinian factions, which began to take hold after a week of brutal violence.

"No one would condone fighting one another while the Israelis are shelling Gaza," Barhoum said.

The violence has been restricted to the Gaza Strip so far. But in a sign of a possible crackdown in the West Bank, Israeli troops raided two radio stations and one TV channel identified with Hamas early Monday in the city of Nablus, along with two independent TV stations. The troops confiscated equipment and videotapes, workers at the stations said, and all five went off the air.

The army had no immediately comment.