The two top floors of the main building collapsed, and the second building,
which provides housing for ministry employees, was set on fire, witnesses said.
Israeli aircraft also fired missiles at a Hamas camp in southern Gaza and a
Hamas-affiliated school in Gaza City, and shelled open areas in the north. A
13-year-old boy was seriously wounded in the head by shrapnel, Palestinian
medical officials said.
The rocket fired by Gaza militants Tuesday flew 7 miles and exploded in the
courtyard of a school in Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 on Israel's seacoast north
of Gaza. School security cameras showed a large cloud of white dust rising from
the point of impact. The school was empty at the time and no one was hurt.
Although militants have launched many of the small, homemade rockets in the
direction of Ashkelon, this was the first one to hit the center of the city.
Militants have repeatedly claimed they were developing rockets with longer
ranges.
Zeev Schiff, veteran military analyst for the respected Israeli Haaretz
daily, wrote that the rocket attack on Ashkelon was "an unequivocal Hamas
invitation to war."
In the hours before the rocket attack, Israeli forces were already operating
in northern Gaza looking for tunnels, explosives, weapons warehouses and other
facilities used by militants, according to the area army commander.
In a sign militant groups were stepping up their activity, soldier caught a
Palestinian militant in the West Bank settlement of Barkan on Wednesday with an
explosives belt strapped to his waist and ready for use, the army said. The
militant was caught before he had a chance to detonate his explosives, the army
said.
On Tuesday, Olmert ignored a deadline to free Palestinian prisoners set by
the Gaza militants holding 19-year-old Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
A spokesman for the Army of Islam, one of the three groups that abducted
Shalit, said the militants would not release any information about the soldier
until Israel complies with the demands. However, he said there were no plans to
kill the soldier.
Olmert has refused to negotiate with the militants. On Tuesday, he said he
ordered the army "to strike terrorists and those who sent them and those who
sponsor them ... None of them will be immune."
The threat was clearly meant for Syria, which harbors Hamas' top leader,
Khaled Mashaal. Israel holds Syria responsible for Shalit's abduction, saying
that Mashaal ordered the kidnapping. Last week, Israeli warplanes buzzed Syrian
President Bashar Assad's palace.
In Gaza City, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas publicly
called on the militants to protect the soldier. "The government is exerting
efforts with Palestinian, Arab and regional parties to end this case in the
appropriate manner," Haniyeh said at a Cabinet meeting.
