Palestinians: IAF strikes wreck homes in Gaza City

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An IAF air strike late Friday destroyed the home of a Hamas operative and neighbor of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, wounding no one but damaging several nearby buildings, Palestinian officials and witnesses said. A second airstrike destroyed a weapons storehouse in in the same neighborhood a short time later, Israel Radio reported. Secondary explosions indentified after the attack indicated that the building did in fact contain weponry, the army said. Hamas officials said the army ordered the home's owner, a local Hamas commander, to evacuate the building ahead of the air strike. Israel frequently issues such warnings, saying it wants to avoid casualties before destroying suspected weapons-storage facilities. The prime minister was reportedly at home at the time but not harmed. The army had no immediate comment.