Hamas Official Killed, U.N. Compound Hit in Gaza
Another high-ranking Hamas official, Interior Minister Said Siyam, was killed on Thursday near Gaza City, according to Israeli and Hamas sources. Israeli leaders faced international criticism after their forces also struck both the United Nations compound and a high-rise in Gaza City where several media organizations are based.
Another high-ranking Hamas official, Interior Minister Said Siyam, was killed on Thursday near Gaza City, according to Israeli and Hamas sources. Israeli leaders faced international criticism after their forces also struck both the United Nations compound and a high-rise in Gaza City where several media organizations are based.
BBC:
Mr Siyam is one of the most senior Hamas leaders killed in the 20-day Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.
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.
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 and apologised for the attack, but said Palestinian fighters had been firing from the UN site.
“It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologise for it,” he said.
“I don’t think it should have happened and I’m very sorry.”
Your support matters…Reporters Without Borders:
Reuters said an Israeli army spokesman contacted the news agency’s Jerusalem bureau shortly before the explosion to verify the location of its Gaza bureau. Reuters had informed the Israeli army of the exact location at the start of the war and was assured by the Israelis on several occasions that it would not be a target.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke out this week in an address to the U.N. Security Council against Israel’s policy of stealing Palestinian land in the West Bank and building ever more squatter homes in occupied Palestine.
The United Nations has officially condemned Israel for shelling its emergency shelters in Gaza during the summer of 2014. The attacks left hundreds injured and at least 44 dead.
The United Nations has given Palestine the go-ahead to become the 123rd member of the International Criminal Court, effective April 1 of this year.
Days after a cease-fire in Gaza was agreed to by Hamas and Israel, the latter announced it was taking over 1.5 square miles of West Bank territory south of Bethlehem as "a response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teenagers in the area" this summer.
At 8:00 a.m. Friday (local time), a three-day cease-fire was scheduled to begin in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a statement about the temporary truce Thursday. Shortly after the truce began Friday, however, Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces accused each other of violating the agreement.
The Islamist militant onslaught in Iraq raises the specter of a sectarian conflict spilling across the embattled nation's borders, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.