GAZA: Israel launches another series of air strikes on Gaza after Abbas and Haniyeh meet

Record ID: 339773

  • Title: GAZA: Israel launches another series of air strikes on Gaza after Abbas and Haniyeh meet
  • Date: 24th May 2007
  • Summary: (BN16) GAZA CITY, GAZA (MAY 23, 2007) (REUTERS) ++FIRST AIR STRIKE++ (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF GAZA SKYLINE SHOWING AN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE MISSILE HIT BUILDING (AUDIO: EXPLOSION) WIDE OF FIRE INSIDE BUILDING VARIOUS OF DAMAGE AND FIRE PEOPLE SEARCHING THROUGH DEBRIS FIRE TRUCK ARRIVING ON SITE CLOSE OF FIRE MORE OF FIRE WIDE OF AMBULANCES ON SITE FIRE MAN PUTTING OUT FIRE CLO
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2007 13:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVA9OKFHBDLNX1L8AQZ2BX3WKE4I
  • Story Text: Israel's air force bombed three targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday (May 23), witnesses said, shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas failed to talk militants into stopping cross-border rocket fire.
    The first air strike set aflame a food storehouse owned by a Palestinian merchant known to be a supporter of the dominant Islamist faction Hamas, witnesses said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the air force bombed a Hamas target.
    The second strike hit a Hamas-linked money-changer's office, witnesses said, while the third strike missed a car. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the attack came against a Hamas militant and confirmed partially hitting the target.
    Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel bombarded civilian targets in Gaza. Abu Zuhri also added that the new Israeli attacks made calls by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and others on factions to stop attacks "worthless".
    Abbas met on Wednesday (May 23) with representatives of Palestinian factions to discuss a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, and a possible halt of rockets fire into Israel.
    Senior Advisor to Abbas, Nabeel Abu Rudineh, stressed the need to achieve a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis.
    "The message of the president is that everybody should work hard to achieve a mutual ceasefire between us and the Israelis," Abu Rudineh told reporters.
    Earlier on Wednesday, Abbas met with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in a bid to ease tensions.
    Abbas, whose secular Fatah faction shares a shaky two-month-old unity government with ruling Hamas Islamists, hoped to convince Hamas and other groups to stop cross-border rocket attacks against Israel as part of a renewed ceasefire with the Jewish state, Palestinian officials said.
    But as Abbas and Haniyeh met at an undisclosed location in the narrow coastal strip, Hamas's armed wing said in a statement: "Our strikes against the enemy will continue."
    Israel has likewise resisted any ceasefire that it believes Hamas would use to strengthen its hold on power.
    The meeting between Abbas and Haniyeh was the first since a surge in factional violence this month verging on civil war. Despite the latest ceasefire, tensions between Hamas and Fatah remain high.
    Israel's bombing campaign against Hamas entered a second week with air strikes that destroyed two buildings the army said were being used to manufacture and store munitions. Palestinians denied the buildings held weapons.
    At least five rockets were fired at southern Israel on Wednesday, compared to 10 on Tuesday (May 22), the army said. Hamas' armed wing did not claim responsibility for any of Wednesday's firings but spokesman Abu Ubaida said the lull was temporary.
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