Israel launched an air strike in Gaza City early Tuesday, levelling several houses in an attack that witnesses said had killed some 10 people and buried others under rubble.
Officials at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said at least 10 Palestinians, including three children, were killed in the attack. Chief of emergency at Shiffa Hospital in the city Moaweya Hassanein said at least 17 people were injured.
Palestinian witnesses said an Israeli F-16 warplane had fired two missiles at a complex of houses in the city, bringing down a number of them.
At least one body was pulled out of the rubble and the witnesses said several other people had been killed, news agencies reported.
According to Palestinian sources, the target of the attack was Salah Shahdeh, the military wing chief of Hamas in Gaza Strip. Shahdeh was reportedly killed.
Meanwhile, Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof is quitting her job as second-in-command to Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer in protest over the Labor Party remaining in Sharon government.
Rabin-Pelossof called Ben-Eliezer in London on Monday to say she would give him a letter of resignation Tuesday when he returned from his trip abroad.
She told Ha'aretz Monday night that she had decided to remain in politics.
Rabin-Pelossof said she did not agree with the policy adopted by the government and the lack of "a political horizon" that prevented negotiations with the Palestinians. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
