Israel Air Force jets fired missiles at the home of a Hamas lawmaker in Gaza Sunday evening, killing at least eight Palestinians: five terrorists and three bystanders, according to Israeli military sources.
The attack came hours after the security cabinet voted to "intensify operational measures" in Gaza to try and halt rocket fire against southern Israel, a government official said.
The home belonged to Khalil al-Haya, a Hamas representative in the Palestinian parliament, who was only lightly wounded in the strike. Seven killed were members of al-Haya's family, ages 16 to 60, Haaretz reported. At least 13 people were injured in the attack.
Following the attack, IDF sources said that the attack was not an attempt to assassinate al-Haya. The targets, they said, were Hamas terrorists outside the house. IDF sources maintain that only three of the eight Palestinians killed in the attack had been civilians, and the remaining five had been militants active in the Hamas military wing.
Among the dead were al-Haya's 60-year-old father, Nimer al-Haya, and his sixteen-year-old relative Mohammed al-Haya.
Al-Haya had represented Hamas in cease-fire talks and had just returned home from an Egyptian-backed truce meeting held before the attack.
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.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the dead were civilian members of the al-Haya family, and the attack indicated that Israel was targeting everyone -- civilians and leaders -- indiscriminately. "This escalation is very serious, he said. All options are open for responding to this." These are typically code words for suicide bombings.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called for international pressure to stop Israeli strikes. It was the first time in two years that the IDF, despite its denials, has targeted a non-military wing member of Hamas.
The cabinet warned that if Hamas attacks on Israel continue it would consider expanding targeted killings to include its political leaders. But after the IAF attack on the lawmaker's home, the IDF stressed that it had not yet changed its policy and had not targeted Hamas politicians, but rather the gunment outside it. "erhaps the house was slightly damaged, possibly by shrapnel. We have no information of people who were wounded inside the house, only the gunmen," they said.
"If the strong measures decided upon will not bring a calm [in fighting], then the cabinet will convene to weigh further, more drastic measures," the statement issued by the cabinet read.
At least three Palestinians were injured in another air strike against terrorists, after midnight. |
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