A few hours after the spiritual leader of Hamas,
Ahmed Yassin, offered to halt all suicide attacks in exchange for full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an Israeli
F-16 jet dropped a bomb into a densely populated residential area of
Gaza City. Fifteen people were killed, including
Salah Shehade (the leader of
Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din el-Qasam Brigades), and more than 100 others were wounded. Nine of the dead were children, including Mohammed al-Huwaiti (aged 4), his brother Subhi (aged 3), Ayman Mattar (aged 1) and Dunya Rami Mattar (aged three months). The
United Nations swiftly condemned the action as a flagrant violation of international law.
Ariel Sharon,
Israel's Prime Minister, said it was "one of our biggest successes", though the Prime Minister's office later added, "it is well known he regrets the killing of civilians."[1]
An
earthquake (
magnitude 4.7) hits parts of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Harry Potter. The director for the third Harry Potter film has been announced as Mexican-born
Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón will start directing "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" next year.