IDF kills operatives in Beit Hanun; IAF pummels PA foreign ministry building.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, APzahar 298.88(photo credit: Associated Press)
While residents of the north of Israel woke up Monday morning to a rain of Katyusha rockets, communities in the south also found themselves under attack by Kassams fired from the Gaza Strip.
Two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel when a Kassam landed in the courtyard of a Sderot apartment building. The building itself also sustained damage.
Also Monday morning, another Kassam struck a Negev kibbutz. While no one was wounded, the dairy, a building, and several cars suffered extensive damage.
There were reports that between five and ten Kassam rockets had been fired at Sderot and its environs.
Meanwhile, IDF soldiers from the Golani Brigade killed two armed Palestinians Monday morning in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun. One soldier was very lightly wounded during the operation.
The IDF killed another armed Palestinian in Beit Hanun early Monday afternoon in the continuing operation.
Overnight Sunday, IAF aircraft bombed the Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City, the second attack on the ministry in a week, witnesses said.
An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw clouds of smoke rising from the already damaged building after the strike by an IAF warplane. At least five people were wounded, rescue workers said.
The IDF confirmed it struck the Palestinian Foreign Ministry as "part of ongoing operations."
The huge blast collapsed an eight-story wing of the building and damaged houses in a wide area around the ministry. Black smoke covered the area as police vehicles and ambulances raced in, sirens blaring.
Some 50 apartments were severely damaged and shacks in a nearby shantytown collapsed, residents said. The wounded were in nearby houses.
The other four ministries in the same compound as the foreign ministry, which was empty when the strike happened at 1:20 a.m. (2220 GMT Sunday), were damaged.
Israel bombed the same building on Thursday, saying it was used to plan terror attacks. The Palestinian foreign minister is Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader.
Also Monday, IAF aircraft fired at least five missiles at Palestinian terror operatives during battles in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials said.
Hospital officials reported that at least two operatives were wounded.
A missile was aimed at a Hamas office in the Jebaliya refugee camp, setting it on fire, residents said. No one was hurt. Also, an aircraft fired a missile at a farm building where operatives were thought to be hiding.
