Gaza crisis escalates as Israel strikes Hamas PM's office

Haniya, who was not present at the time of the raid, swiftly condemned the attack, which set his office ablaze in a dramatic warning to the Hamas government following multiple Israeli threats against their leadership.

"It's an attack against a Palestinian symbol. We ask the international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene" to end what he called Israel's "insane policy" he said.

Witnesses said at least one missile struck Haniya's office shortly before 2:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday), sparking a blaze nevertheless swiftly doused by a team of Palestinian firefighters.

A second near-simultaneous air strike in the northern Gaza strip town of Jabaliya killed a member of the armed wing of Haniya's Hamas movement and wounded another, marking a fifth straight night of Israeli air raids on Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to target Haniya following the capture on June 25 of an Israeli soldier by three Palestinian militant groups, including the armed wing of the premier's Islamist Hamas movement.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out an air strike on Haniya's office and another two targeting Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, saying the Israel Defence Forces would use "all means" to secure the soldier's release.

"There was an aerial attack on the office of Ismail Haniya, prime minister. The IDF holds the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government responsible for the recent attack on the soldier and his fate," a spokeswoman told AFP.

"The IDF will continue to employ all means at its disposal against Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to allow the unconditional return of Corporal Gilad Shalit," she added.

The Israeli military confirmed another two air strikes against Hamas outposts in the Gaza refugee camp of Jabaliya where "several terrorists were present at the time planning terrorist attacks against Israel".

A Palestinian security official said one of the attacks targeted a school run by the Islamist movement, which operates a powerful social welfares wing in the impoverished Gaza Strip.

A senior official from Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas' office had warned Saturday that Haniya's life could be on the line if a solution were not reached soon allowing the release of the 19-year-old Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit.

"His life is at risk if the Palestinian groups do not free the Israeli soldier," a high-ranking official had told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"There are Israeli threats against Ismail Haniya through the media," the official said, adding that Abbas had not received any direct messages from the Israeli government.

The Israeli attacks came as Abbas insisted that mediation efforts to free the captured soldier were continuing despite reports that talks had stalled.

"Things have not reached an impasse and efforts continue to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties and resolve the issue of the prisoner in exchange for some things," Abbas told reporters in Gaza City.

He did not elaborate on what Israel would have to give the three militant groups that captured Gilad Shalit on June 25 in order to secure the 19-year-old corporal's release.

"The coming hours will be sensitive and dangerous. Efforts continue but until now no satisfactory solution has been reached," Abbas said, hours before Israel attacked Haniya's office.

Israel this week arrested scores of Hamas members including ministers and lawmakers and threatened to take further action if Shalit were not released.

With the threat of an Israeli ground offensive looming, residents of the Gaza Strip grappled with shortages of food, fuel and electricity.

Besides the air strikes, gunboats and ground forces Saturday fired several hundred artillery rounds at Gaza, although Israel has held off from a threatened ground offensive from the north to allow for the continuation of diplomatic efforts.

About 5,000 troops and columns of Israeli tanks are poised on the Gaza border in the largest Israeli military operation since it pulled out of the tiny coastal territory last September, ending a 38-year-occupation.

Israel, which had warned of "extreme measures" to secure the release of the serviceman, rejected new demands issued by the three Palestinian groups holding Shalit.

The White House also urged the release of the soldier, saying his freedom was a "key" first step to ending the crisis.

The Popular Resistance Committees, the armed wing of the governing Islamist movement Hamas and the previously unknown Army of Islam said they were seeking the release of "1,000 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and other prisoners".

The statement did not explicitly say the releases were conditions for securing the freedom of Shalit, who a Palestinian official said had sustained three bullet wounds but had received medical treatment.

It said all detained Palestinian militant leaders as well as elderly and sick detainees should be freed and reiterated an earlier demand for the release of women and juvenile prisoners.

But Israel rejected the militant demands.

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been clear on this point. There will be no negotiations with the kidnappers. If Gilad Shalit is not freed, Israel will do what it necessary," foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

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