Israeli air strike 'destroys Gaza ministry'

An Israeli bomb squad officer inspects a rocket which landed in Sderot yesterday. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP The Hamas-run interior ministry building in Gaza was destroyed by an Israeli air strike today, witnesses said. Israeli missiles also hit two cars in Gaza City, wounding at least 20 people, Palestinian medical workers told Reuters. The interior ministry has been vacant since it was damaged in a July 2006 air strike but is situated in a residential area. Witnesses said several civilians were injured. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, denounced the attacks. "In these days, we can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," he said. But Abbas also demanded that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza, which it seized in June last year after a bloody battle with Abbas' Fatah group. The Hamas takeover "destroyed and tries to destroy our dreams, future and national aspirations", he said. Guardian Unlimited