- Title: GAZA: Israeli airstrike hits a metal workshop in the Gaza Strip say residents
- Date: 22nd May 2007
- Summary: (W5) GAZA CITY, GAZA (MAY 22, 2007) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) WIDE OF GAZA AT NIGHT WITH SMOKE RISING AFTER AN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE REMOVING DEBRIS AND SEARCHING THROUGH RUBBLE WIDE OF FIRE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PUTTING OUT FIRE MAN REMOVING DEBRIS AND WRECKAGE PEOPLE LOOKING AT DAMAGE CAUSE BY AN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE VARIOUS OF DAMAGE FIRE TRUCKS AND AMBULANCE ON
- Embargoed: 6th June 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA30M6WXPQC50QSFPU2G6BGVKIJ
- Story Text: An Israeli airstrike struck a metal workshop in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (May 22), local residents said.
The military said it targeted a foundry Hamas had used to make weapons and a building used as a "command centre" by the Popular Resistance Committees militant group.
Some Palestinians woke up in the early morning hours to find their homes damaged by the impact of the nearby strike.
A neighbour and owner of a damaged apartment complex blamed Fatah and Hamas for the Israeli airstrike.
"God damn Hamas and the father of Hamas and whoever brought Hamas, and God damn Fatah," he angrily told Reuters Television.
"Shame on these Muslims, they call themselves Muslims? I want to marry my son. We barely enjoyed this house. Where will I put my son? God damn them. Where will I put him?" he said as he showed the damage.
At least five Palestinians and an Israeli woman were killed on Monday (May 21) as both sides traded attacks and a senior Israeli cabinet minister said all Hamas leaders involved in cross-border rocket fire could be targeted.
The woman's death in the southern Israeli town of Sderot marked the first fatality in a Palestinian rocket attack since November and is likely to stoke further Israeli anger at what Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called an "intolerable" situation.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged in recent days, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and the militant Hamas group have struggled to maintain calm between their own fighters following weeks of internal fighting.
Israel's security cabinet decided on Sunday (May 20) to escalate military action in response to some 150 rockets fired from Gaza since last week, which have put political pressure on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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