GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli artillery shells crashed into the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, drawing a sharp protest from the U.N. chief as he visited Israel to appeal for a truce. Another Israeli bombardment killed the Hamas security chief.
The deadly chaos pitting Israeli troops against Islamic militants transformed parts of Gaza City into a full-bore war zone. Terrified residents huddled in shelters and stairwells, or scooped up toddlers and fled on foot. Blasts and bullets tore chunks out of buildings.
The Israeli attack on the U.N. compound triggered a fire that engulfed a warehouse and destroyed thousands of pounds of food and other aid intended for Gaza's beleaguered citizens. Workers with fire extinguishers and Palestinian firefighters, some wearing bulletproof jackets, struggled to douse surging flames and tugged bags of flour from the debris.
The destruction delivered a sharp blow to efforts to ease what aid groups say is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and ratcheted up tensions between Israel and the international community even as diplomats indicated progress in cease-fire talks.
Israeli envoy Amos Gilad returned from a daylong trip to Cairo, where he discussed a cease-fire proposal with Egyptian officials who are also trying to coax Hamas into ending the war.
Israel launched an offensive Dec. 27 to end Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. Gaza medics say about 1,100 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have died; 13 Israelis have also been killed.
Key Hamas figure killed
Israel's intense assaults in Gaza on Thursday seemed to reflect an extra push to pressure Hamas negotiators into making concessions on cease-fire terms, and punish the militant group as much as possible before any end to hostilities.
An Israeli airstrike killed Interior Minister Said Siam, a key figure in Hamas who oversaw thousands of security agents, Hamas television said. A top aide, Siam's brother and his brother's family were also killed.
"We are talking about a key person in terms of logistics in the field, and also in the political sense," said Bassem Zbeidy, a Hamas expert in the West Bank.
He said Siam's death was a "huge loss for Hamas," but noted that the movement is easily capable of generating new leaders, often more radical than their predecessors.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was outraged by the assault on the U.N. compound and said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told him there had been a "grave" error.
"I conveyed my strong protest and outrage to the defense minister and foreign minister and demanded a full explanation," said Ban, who arrived in Israel on Thursday morning from Egypt.
'Total nonsense'
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the military fired artillery shells at the U.N. compound after Hamas militants opened fire from the location. Three people were wounded.
"It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologize for it," he said.
John Ging, director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency operations in Gaza, described the Israeli claim as "total nonsense" and "typical misinformation."
U.N. officials said hundreds of people sheltering in the compound were forced to flee, and that the Israeli shells contained white phosphorus, an incendiary agent that can cause horrific injuries. After the shelling, fire spread to nearby fuel tankers in the compound, triggering another massive explosion.
The U.N. compound distribute food aid to hundreds of thousands of destitute Gazans in the tiny seaside territory of 1.4 million people.
Ging said the U.N. had warned the Israeli military that the compound was in peril from shelling that had begun overnight. U.N. officials say they have provided Israel with GPS coordinates of all U.N. installations in Gaza to prevent such attacks.
The U.N. Security Council expressed "grave concern" and requested a briefing from U.N. officials on the attack.
