Israeli aircraft hit Hamas economic ministry

GAZA, July 15 (Reuters) An Israeli aircraft attacked the Palestinian Economy Ministry in Gaza early today, keeping up strikes against key institutions in the Hamas-led government to force militants to free an abducted soldier.

Undeterred by its widening offensive inside Lebanon, Israeli aircraft also bombed a bridge in central Gaza, witnesses said.

Palestinian officials said there no casualties in either early morning raid. The Israeli army confirmed the attacks.

Gunmen from the militant Hamas Islamist movement were among factions that seized Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25. Hamas, which won control of the Palestinian government after winning elections in January, is sworn to Israel's destruction.

Israel has killed about 80 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, in a Gaza offensive it began almost three weeks ago to pressure Hamas to free Shalit and stop rocket and other attacks by militants. Troops now occupy a part of southern Gaza.

Israeli soldiers today shot dead a Palestinian man in the central Gaza Strip, near the border with the Jewish state, Palestinian medics said. An army spokeswoman said troops fired at a man who threw grenades at them.

Palestinian medics said they picked up a body that appeared to have been hit several times by a high-caliber weapon.

Israeli air strikes have already destroyed several Gaza offices of the Palestinian government, including that of the prime minister, the foreign minister and the interior minister.

The Jewish state is also engaged in a major offensive against Lebanon after the Hizbollah guerrilla group captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a raid on Wednesday.

Israel's military chief said yesterday that all three captured soldiers were alive.

''As far as our information indicates, the three soldiers are alive and in reasonable health. I do not know more about their health than in general terms,'' Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz told reporters.

Israel has rebuffed growing international criticism of its military operations in Gaza and now Lebanon. Its chief ally, the United States, has said Israel has a right to defend itself.

Hamas gunmen also blew a six-metre hole in the Gaza-Egypt border wall yesterday, allowing nearly 1,000 Palestinians stranded by the closed border to cross home.

Many had been trapped on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing since the crisis erupted. Six stranded Palestinians, including an infant, had died waiting on the closed border.

Palestinians technically control the crossing but its operations can be blocked by the Israelis.

REUTERS SB RK1110