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World Jewish News
Key Hamas leader killed in Gaza
15.01.2009
One of the top Hamas leaders in Gaza has been killed in an air strike, Hamas and Israeli officials have said.
Said Siyam, the Hamas interior minister, was killed in an air raid on his brother's home near Gaza City.
Earlier, Israeli troops and tanks moved closer into the heart of Gaza City, engaging in fierce gun battles with fighters from Hamas.
The UN's relief agency, Unrwa, said part of its HQ in Gaza caught fire after being hit by Israeli shells.
As interior minister, Mr Siyam controlled thousands of Hamas security troops in Gaza and was said to be widely feared.
His son and brother were also killed in the strike, along with two other Hamas officials - the interior ministry's security director Saleh Abu Sharkh and the local leader of the Hamas militia, Mahmoud Abu Watfah.
Mr Siyam is one of the most senior Hamas leaders killed in the 20-day Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip aimed at stopping Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.
He became a member of the "collective leadership" of the militant group in 2004 after Sheikh Yassin and Abdel-Aziz Rantissi were assassinated by Israel.
His death came at the end of a day of fierce clashes which also saw the UN compound in Gaza City shelled by Israeli troops.
UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) spokesman Christopher Gunness said three of the agency's employees were hurt in the attack.
About 700 people were sheltering in the compound at the time, he said, and the fire burnt through stocks of food and medicine, approaching five full fuel tanks.
Mr Olmert met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Tel Aviv and apologised for the attack, but said Palestinian fighters had been firing from the UN site.
Источник: BBC.NEWS
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