Israel flattens Foreign Ministry, Hamas offices

GAZA, July 17: An Israeli air strike flattened the 8-storey Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City today, part of a campaign against the Hamas militant group and the government it controls.

A separate air strike gutted the offices of a Hamas-led security force in the Islamist stronghold of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after militants, some from Hamas, captured an Israeli soldier -- Corporal Gilad Shalit -- in a cross-border raid on June 25.

The Israeli military has since killed more than 85 Palestinians in Gaza, about half of them militants.

The Foreign Ministry building, which was badly damaged in a previous Israeli air strike, was completely destroyed by the early morning blast, which tore into nearby homes, shops and offices, witnesses said.

At least nine Palestinians were injured, most of them children.

No deaths were reported.

''The explosion was so powerful that it knocked my children out of their beds, crying and screaming,'' said Umm Mohammed, who lives in an apartment across the street from the Foreign Ministry building.

Mohammed said the blast knocked out windows in the room where her children were sleeping.

The Israeli army confirmed the air strike. An army spokesman accused Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas of using his offices ''to plan continued terror attacks against Israel''.

Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2003 that killed his eldest son. Hamas, which came to power in the Palestinian territories after a January election, is dedicated to Israel's destruction.

Israel has bombed several buildings used by Hamas and its elected leaders, including the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, is demanding that Israel free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit's release. Israel has rejected any exchange.

REUTERS