Israel carried out an air strike near the Gaza residence of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Friday, but insisted he was not the target.
”Haniyeh’s home definitely was not the target,” an Israeli army spokesperson said.
Ahmed Youssef, Haniyeh’s political adviser, said the bombardment was meant to send ”a message of threats” to the prime minister.
”These are all messages and signals that aim to undermine and hamper the movement of the prime minister,” he said.
Israel launched another air strike at a Hamas position in the central Gaza Strip later in the day, injuring four civilians, including a local journalist for a pro-Hamas radio station, Hamas and hospital sources said.
An Israeli Army spokesperson confirmed the attack targeted a Hamas position. Hamas sources and witnesses said six missiles were used in all.
At an angry rally at the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, another senior Hamas figure, Nizar Rayyan, slammed Palestinian President Mahmound Abbas of the rival Fatah faction for urging Hamas to end its rocket attacks on Israel.
A day after Abbas said rocket attacks were hampering efforts to negotiate a ceasefire with Israel, Rayyan said Abbas ”wants us to surrender”.
”We will not listen to him,” he added.
”Abbas hates rockets just like we hate the Jews,” Rayyan said of the president.
Fighting in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah broke out again two weeks ago, killing about 50 people before a relative calm in recent days.
Representatives of Fatah and Hamas may meet Egyptian mediators separately in Cairo in the coming days, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said. A Fatah delegation is due there on Saturday and a Hamas spokesperson said Hamas would also be prepared to meet Egyptian officials if a formal invitation was sent.
Overnight strikes
The overnight attack was part of a concentrated seven-strike effort by the Israeli air force to hit Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant posts, including a weapons-manufacturing facility, an army statement said.
”There was an air strike on a structure used by the Hamas terrorist organisation in Shati refugee camp,” the spokesperson said.
Residents said a missile hit a caravan used by Hamas men guarding a street leading to Haniyeh’s home in Gaza, wounding one person.
Israeli officials have in the past publicly put Haniyeh on notice that he and other Hamas political leaders could be attacked if cross-border rocket attacks continue.
Including the seven latest night strikes, Israel said it conducted a total of 11 air raids on Gaza over 24 hours — the most intense concentration since attacks began 10 days ago.
Hamas on Thursday defied Abbas’s call to stop firing rockets at Israel. — Reuters