Israel flattens Hamas ministry in Gaza Strip

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel bombed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza and closed border crossings with the strip on Friday, sharply escalating what it called a campaign to halt Palestinian rocket attacks.

The four-storey ministry complex in Gaza City was empty at the time but one woman was killed and at least 30 others nearby were wounded in the air strike, medical officials said.

"It felt like an earthquake," said Umm Fahmi, a woman who lives across from the blast site.

"My house did not only shake, it jumped from its foundations and back down. How could they drop such a bomb in a residential area on top of people's heads?" she said, peering through the dust at the concrete and steel remains of the security complex.

It was the first Israeli bombing of a Palestinian government building since Hamas Islamists took over Gaza in June after routing secular Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.

A second Israeli air strike minutes later damaged Hamas's so-called naval headquarters in the central Gaza Strip.

Israel has killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza this week as part of what officials describe as a stepped-up campaign to pressure Hamas to rein in militants who have fired more than 110 rockets into the Jewish state in the last three days alone.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the air strikes, calling the targets "Hamas terrorist" positions.

"This is part of our response to Qassam (rocket) fire against Israel," the spokeswoman said.

The Interior Ministry oversees Hamas-controlled government forces in Gaza, but not the group's armed wing. The armed wing claimed responsibility for most rocket salvoes since Tuesday, when Israel killed 18 Palestinians, mostly Hamas militants.

PEACE PROCESS

The violence has prompted the Palestinians to caution that peace talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, spurred by a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush, were in jeopardy.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli Defence Ministry closed all Israel's border crossings with Gaza and prevented the delivery of a U.N. aid shipment.

Only so-called "humanitarian cases" given Defence Minister Ehud Barak's personal approval would be allowed through, the ministry said.

"If milk is low in Gaza, the minister will be asked to approve a milk shipment, and it will enter," a Defence Ministry spokesman said.