Olmert shaky – Berserk Israeli gunships kills 8 of lawmakers’ family members

Source: AP, 20-5-2007
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - "Israel's" air force fired a missile at a house in Gaza City late Sunday, killing at least eight people, residents and hospital officials said. The strike followed a decision to step up attacks against Islamic resistance.
"Israeli" air attacks earlier in the day killed another three Palestinians.
Residents said the house belonged to a Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, and six of the dead were members of his family. Al-Haya was not at home and was not harmed, they said. He was one of the Hamas representatives in cease-fire talks with Fatah and was attending an Egyptian-sponsored truce meeting just before the strike, residents said.
The missile hit a room used as a meeting place for the extended family, relatives said. Hospital officials said eight people were killed and 13 injured.
The "Israeli" military said the missile hit a group of security guards outside a house.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, there was pandemonium as cars brought in the victims, some of them dismembered by the blast. Al-Haya went to the hospital to visit his wounded relatives.
"We will go ahead despite the challenges, despite the martyrs, despite the pain that I am suffering and my people are suffering," he told reporters at the hospital, in remarks carried by local radio stations.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said those killed were civilian members of the al-Haya family, and the attack was a sign that "Israel" is targeting "everyone - civilians and leaders."
"This escalation is very serious," he said. "All options are open" for responding to this.
Early Monday, "Israeli" aircraft struck twice in Gaza City, killing a Palestinian allegedly a Hamas member. The military claimed the targets were Hamas and Islamic Jihad weapons factories. Palestinians said one was a cement factory and the other was a house.
In a statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for international pressure to stop the "Israeli" attacks.
Despite a sixth straight day of strikes, Gaza militants fired at least 12 rockets at southern "Israel". Several exploded in the battered town of Sderot, causing damage but no serious injuries. One destroyed a popular Indian restaurant in a nearby village at nightfall.
The decision by "Israel's" Security Cabinet to keep up attacks was aimed at the two main Islamic militant groups in Gaza. "The operations will focus on Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, who are responsible for the current escalation," the government said in a statement, but stopped short of approving a large-scale ground invasion.
Since last week, 36 Palestinians have been killed in the "Israeli" airstrikes.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned the strikes could intensify. "If the diplomatic and military efforts we have taken do not bring calm, will have to escalate our response," he said.
Three people, including at least one Hamas militant, were also killed earlier Sunday in an airstrike on a car in Gaza City. In another airstrike, "Israel" said it targeted an Islamic Jihad weapons workshop in northern Gaza, but the shop owner said his stereo and video store was apparently hit by mistake.
Inter-Palestinian calm holds
"Israel's" bombardment appears to have pushed Palestinians to calm bloody factional fighting in Gaza. A truce between warring Palestinian factions took hold after a week of fierce fighting.
Hamas and Fatah issued a joint statement Sunday ordering their gunmen to observe the truce.
"We warn all those who commit a violation that they will be held accountable," it said.
Masked gunmen who had controlled the streets and taken over apartment buildings in the previous week scaled back their presence, and residents who had holed up at home ventured out to stock up on supplies at busy shops.
Children went back to school in time for final exams, and adults returned to work.
More than 50 Palestinians were killed in factional clashes that broke out after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah stationed thousands of loyalist security forces in Gaza City without consulting Hamas, Fatah`s partner in the Palestinian governing alliance.
"Israel" added an overlapping layer of violence by sending warplanes after Hamas rocket squads whose attacks on "Israeli" border towns have sown panic and sent thousands fleeing to safer ground.
One option "Israel" is considering is deploying an international force along Gaza`s border with Egypt to curb weapons smuggling and possibly to disarm militants, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Olmert shaky
Olmert`s already shaky internal standing took another blow Sunday when hardline Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to pull his small party out of the government unless a large-scale operation is ordered against Hamas.
"Either Hamas is going to be dismantled, or the government is going to be dismantled," Lieberman said in a statement. "This is not an ultimatum, but these are the options." Olmert would still have a small majority if Lieberman quit.
Olmert has lost much of his public support because of the inconclusive outcome of last summer`s war against Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon.