GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On a day of action on military and diplomatic fronts, Israeli soldiers drove deep into Gaza City on Thursday, killed two top Hamas leaders and incurred withering international criticism for shelling a United Nations compound full of provisions for refugees.
Despite the assault, Hamas fighters managed to fire at least 26 rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. A rocket seriously wounded a woman and a 7-year-old boy in Beersheva, about 26 miles from Gaza, and injured three others.
But there also were signs that a cease-fire deal was within reach. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni boarded a midnight flight to Washington, where she was expected to sign an agreement with U.S. diplomats for aggressive interdiction of rockets and other arms to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials in Washington said Livni would meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work out details of an understanding concerning the U.S. security assurances. Another Israeli envoy consulted with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after meeting in Cairo with Egyptian officials, key players in the proposed anti-smuggling agreement. Olmert called Rice to say that Israel wanted to pursue the “Egyptian track” to end the military operation, officials said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who met with Livni and other leaders after arriving from Cairo, expressed hope for a resolution.
“I believe from my talks in Egypt that the elements are in place for this violence to end now,” Ban said.
Moreover, there is widespread belief in Gaza that Israeli leaders will end the combat before President-elect Barack Obama takes office Tuesday to avoid getting off on the wrong foot with the new administration.
Death still ruled the streets and skies of Gaza City on the 21st day of the offensive. An Israeli airstrike obliterated a three-story building in the Yamarouk neighborhood and killed Said Siam, 49, who as Hamas minister of interior oversaw the police and other security forces. Israeli and Palestinian officials said the explosion also killed Siam’s brother, Iyad Siam, and one of Siam’s deputies, Salah Abu Sharah, who was in charge of the domestic security apparatus.
Artillery fire hit a U.N. Relief and Works Agency compound where at least 700 Palestinians were being sheltered and thousands of gallons of fuel were stored. The shelling set the compound ablaze, destroying thousands of pounds of badly needed food and medicine. Three U.N. employees were hurt.
