"Israel" kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza including nine members of one family

Source: Reuters, 12-7-2006
GAZA - "Israel" killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday including nine members of one family in an air strike that destroyed a house where top Hamas commanders were claimed to be meeting.
The air raid was among a series of attacks that coincided with an armored sweep into central Gaza, as "Israel" broadened an offensive allegedly aimed at freeing a captured soldier and halting cross-border rocket fire.
"Israel`s" military claimed the strike on a three-storey building near Gaza City wounded Mohammad Deif, leader of the governing Hamas movement`s armed wing. The Hamas armed wing denied Deif had been hurt and vowed a "painful" response.
The air strike killed a local Hamas leader, Nabil Abu Selmeya, his wife and seven sons and daughters aged 7 to 19, medics said. Selmeya`s eldest son, who was not at home, survived.
Palestinian medics said the day`s air raids and tank shelling had killed 18 people, including militants and one policeman.
On "Israel`s" northern border, the Lebanese Hizbollah captured two "Israeli" soldiers and killed up to seven "Israelis" in violence further inflaming Middle East tensions.
Palestinian militant groups in Gaza and the occupied West Bank welcomed the latest abductions. Islamic Jihad activists distributed sweets to passersby in Gaza`s streets to celebrate.
"Israel`s" army said Deif had been in the residential building in Gaza and was targeted because intelligence information showed he and other senior Hamas commanders were planning attacks.
"We know he was injured, but not to what degree," said an army spokeswoman.
Hamas`s Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades was one of three groups whose kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25 led Israel to launch its first ground operations in Gaza since quitting the territory last year.
Deif, in his 40s and who is rarely seen in public, has escaped several "Israeli" assassination attempts. Those close calls have turned him into a folk hero to many Palestinians.
"Israel" will pay for daring to hunt the lion of Qassam," said one Hamas activist who gave his name as Ahmed, speaking near the wrecked building, a tangle of twisted metal, broken concrete and blood.
Using bare hands, rescuers dug through the rubble.
"Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)," one youth screamed from under debris as hundreds of onlookers echoed the call. Rescuers later pulled him out and he was rushed to hospital.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Qassam brigades, denied "Israel`s" most wanted man had been wounded.
He declined to say whether Deif was there at the time.
In its new incursion, the army sent dozens of armored vehicles into central Gaza before dawn, effectively cutting the territory in two.
"Israel" has vowed to continue the operation, which has killed 74 Palestinians, until militants free Shalit and stop launching makeshift rockets over the border.
The scene at the bombed Gaza building recalled "Israel`s" assassination of Hamas military commander Salah Shehada in 2002 by dropping a one-tonne bomb on his home. The death of 14 other people in that attack drew a wave of international criticism.