Israel Kills Hamas Security Chief, Hits U.N. Site

By CHARLES LEVINSON

AL ATATRA, Gaza Strip -- Airstrikes Thursday killed Hamas's security chief in the Gaza Strip in a tactical victory for Israel on a day it moved forces into the territory's heavily populated urban areas.

A separate attack against the United Nations headquarters in the north of Gaza City drew international condemnation.

AFP/Getty Images

Smoke billows from the Gaza Strip following an Israeli air strike Wednesday.

Thursday's attacks appeared to be part of a significant escalation of fighting by Israeli forces, and coincides with talks in Cairo over a cease-fire initiative.

Some 700 Gazans seeking shelter from the fighting were at the compound during the morning strike. A U.N. spokesman said three people were injured and a warehouse with humanitarian relief went up in flames. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded an explanation from Israel.

Israel said it shelled the U.N. compound after Hamas militants fired at Israeli soldiers and then sought cover there.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the attack was an accident. "It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologize for it," Mr. Olmert said, according to the Associated Press. "I don't think it should have happened, and I'm very sorry."

A U.N. spokesman in Jerusalem also said the shells that hit the U.N. headquarters contained white phosphorous, a chemical used by many militaries to provide smoke screen for troop movements but that is banned by international law if used as a weapon.

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Israeli officials have said they abide by international law, but haven't specifically addressed its alleged use of white phosphorous.

Hamas confirmed a separate strike killed Hamas's security chief, Interior Minister Said Siam, along with Mr. Siam's brother and son.

The Palestinian death toll from the air-and-ground offensive was at least 1,095 and over 5,000 wounded, according to Palestinian officials quoted by news agencies Thursday. Thirteen Israelis have been killed, including 10 soldiers and three civilians hit by Hamas rocket fire, according to the Israeli military.

Israeli commanders Thursday took a small group of Israeli and international journalists on a restricted visit into Gaza, in the second guided military tour of the territory since the start of the war on Dec. 27. The one-day visit into Gaza was closely controlled, offering a very limited glimpse of the destruction wrought by three weeks of Israeli attacks on Hamas.

The territory has been sealed off to the media, and journalists have been forced to cover the conflict from barren hilltops on Gaza's border, via telephone to Palestinians inside Gaza, and with the help of Gazan journalists.

Fighting Moves Into Gaza City

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• Battle Moves Deeper into Gaza City
• Video: Israeli Airstrike Injures U.N. Workers
• Video: Rockets from Lebanon Fired at Israel
• Video: U.N. Urges Peace as Israel Pounds Gaza

An investigation into the failings of Israel's Lebanon war against Hezbollah in 2006 concluded the press was given too much access to soldiers and officers, undermining the war effort.

This time around Israel has put unprecedented restrictions on journalists. Wounded soldiers in hospitals in Israel are guarded to make sure no journalist gets close to them.

On Thursday, Col. Herzi, commander of the Paratrooper Brigade, stood in a field in the coastal farming village of Al Atatra, north of Gaza City amid mangled greenhouses and torn-up irrigation pipes. Dark smoke billowed into the sky behind him where the U.N. headquarters was slowly burning to the ground. (Israeli Defense Force rules for the trip forbade reporting of last names of Israeli military personnel.)

Israel tank columns have carved a maze of deeply rutted dirt tracks through farm fields running south along the coastline. The road is lined with comfortable-looking two-story Palestinian homes, many of which have been demolished by Israeli airstrikes or have had massive holes punctured in their walls by tanks or D9 bulldozers.

"Every Palestinian body and every destroyed house I see is something I don't like, but Hamas didn't give us any choice," said Col. Herzi, the brigade commander. "We have to show them they should stop and find another way to live with us."

During Thursday's visit, which was chaperoned by minders from the military's press office, Col. Herzi told how his soldiers stormed into Gaza on the first day of the ground war Jan. 3.

"We found many rockets aimed at Ashkelon," an Israeli town across the border, he said. Israel said it launched its attack against Hamas in response to stepped-up rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel.

Sgt. Almog, a 20-year-old machine gunner, said, "We kept hearing Hamas was a strong terror organization, but it was much easier than we thought it would be." But Hamas's fighters, he said, "are just villagers with guns. They don't even aim when they shoot."

His company commander stepped in and silenced him with a few terse words in Hebrew. "We have nothing to hide," the commander said. "But they cannot talk to you."

-- Joshua Mitnick in Tel Aviv contributed to this article.

Write to Charles Levinson at charles.levinson@wsj.com