"Army ordered to destroy Hamas buildings in Gaza"
"HERZLIYA, Israel -- The Israeli army has been ordered to destroy Hamas structures in Gaza as part of a three-pronged strategy aimed at toppling the Islamists, a senior Israeli official said yesterday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak decided in a meeting last week to order the army to destroy "Hamas power symbols" in the Gaza Strip, he said.
"We have begun targetting ministries, police stations, army and government buildings that are used by Hamas in Gaza in order to weaken the regime there," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The other measures against the Islamists include continuing air and ground operations against militants and rocket launching cells, as well as economic sanctions on the territory, the official said.
In the first sign of the implementation of the new policy, Israeli warplanes on Friday flattened a four-storey building in Gaza City used by Hamas as its interior ministry.
The building was empty at the time, but the strike killed a woman in a nearby building and wounded dozens of others, many of them attending a wedding. It came a day after Barak ordered Gaza's borders sealed in response to persistent rocket fire.
Israel eased the punishing blockade yesterday, allowing in limited amounts of fuel amid mounting international concerns over a humanitarian crisis developing in the territory where most of the 1.5m residents depend on foreign aid.
Israel has been struggling to curb rocket attacks against its territory from the Gaza Strip, where the Islamist movement seized power in June 2007, routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Meanwhile, Olmert yesterday visited Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, which has been tasked with developing missiles to counter short- and medium-range rockets, his office said.
Israel already has the Hetz, a ground-to-air missile capable of intercepting long-range ballistic missiles.
But last year the government decided to develop systems to provide complete coverage "against different types of missile with conventional and non-conventional warheads capable of reaching populated areas," a statement said."
