After day of bloodshed in Gaza, IAF strikes Haniyeh headquarters
By Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay , Haaretz Correspondents
Last update - 08:22 02/03/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959654.html

Israel Air Force aircraft targeted Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's
Gaza headquarters early Sunday, firing three missiles at the compound.

The building completely collapsed, and at least five people were wounded in
the strike, according to Palestinian witnesses.

Earlier, IAF planes struck a Hamas weapon warehouse in northern Gaza.

On Saturday, two Israeli soldiers and 63 Palestinians, many of them
civilians, were killed in an Israeli military operation in northern Gaza
City. The operation is expected to continue for several days.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority announced the suspension of talks with
Israel.

The government wants to continue with attacks from the air and localized
ground operations, but the Israel Defense Forces General Staff believes that
continued fighting might escalate the situation to the point where broader
military action is ordered.

Over the weekend dozens of Qassam rockets and Katyushas were fired at
Ashkelon, Sderot and communities bordering the Gaza Strip. Seven Israeli
civilians were lightly wounded.

Before dawn Saturday, IDF soldiers entered areas on the outskirts of dense
population centers that are frequently used to launch rockets at Sderot. The
soldiers who were killed - Staff Sergeant Doron Assulin, 20, of Be'er Sheva,
and Staff Sergeant Eran Dan-Gur, 20, of Jerusalem- were hit in the early
stage of the operation as troops deployed. One was shot by a Palestinian
sniper; the other died in an exchange of fire at close range.

An IDF officer was moderately wounded and another six soldiers were lightly
hurt in the fighting.

IDF sources said the actual Palestinian death toll in Saturday's battles was
probably over 70. Most were from Hamas, but a few were from the Popular
Resistance Committees and from Islamic Jihad. Many civilians were also
killed in the operation.

Over the next few days the IDF will sweep the area for wanted militants and
material.

IAF planes continue to target concrete positions where Hamas has deployed
Qassam launchers, sometimes with one-ton bombs. On Saturday afternoon an air
assault destroyed a truck in Jabalya that was carrying 160 Qassam rockets
and dozens of mortar shells.

In another incident, the IAF killed a Hamas officer who commanded a Grad
launcher squad.

Special effort will focus on hitting the rocket production chain-warehouses,
transport, and launch squads. IDF sources admit, however, that the rocket
fire will continue, even if the launch areas are pushed farther from Israeli
territory.

The army believes that Hamas wants to establish a 'balance of terror' to
deter the IDF from attacking its people from the air or initiating ground
operations, because for every such operation Hamas will respond with Qassams
and even Katyushas against Ashkelon.

According to Israeli intelligence, Hamas wants to end the current round of
violence. However, Israel is keeping up the pressure because it wants to
force Hamas to stop firing at Ashkelon.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will hold talks with military leaders Sunday on
the situation in the Gaza Strip.