Israel razes Gaza apartment blocks
The military said Palestinian militants used the two buildings to fire rockets at nearby Jewish settlements and Israeli troops.
In recent days, 10 Israeli civilians and soldiers were injured in attacks from the structures, the military said.
Israeli forces often destroy buildings said to be used by militants, but this was an especially large operation aimed at destroying new apartment houses where dozens of families lived.
Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the Khan Younis refugee camp before midnight and ordered 6,000 residents to leave their homes, residents said. They were sent to a schoolyard while soldiers knocked down the buildings.
During the operation, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a group of Palestinians planting a land mine, exploding the device. Seven people were wounded, three seriously, Palestinian hospital officials said.
Israel is planning to pull out of Gaza and evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements there next year.
The Gaza operation came less than two days after two Palestinian suicide bombers blew up buses in the Israeli city of Beersheba, killing 16 passengers and shattering a six-month lull in attacks.
The violent Hamas group claimed responsibility, but Israel focused blame on Syria, saying the decision- making centre of the group shifted to the Syrian capital of Damascus after Israel’s assassination this year of the Hamas founder and his successor in Gaza.
“The fact that Hamas is operating from Syria will not grant it immunity,” Raanan Gissin, adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said yesterday.
The overall leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, operates from Syria.
Sharon added his own implied threat: “Israel’s struggle against terrorism will continue unabated. We will apparently need to decide on additional steps to stop terrorism,” he said, without elaborating.
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