In this Feb. 2, 2008 file photo senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, left, and top Hamas official Said Siam, right, return from Egypt at the border at Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. An Israeli airstrike killed senior Hamas leader Said Siam in Gaza City on Thursday Jan. 15, 2009, flattening the building where he was staying. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba, File)From The Telegraph:
Israel has killed one of the most hardline Hamas leaders with an airstrike on his brother's home.
Said Siam, Gaza's interior minister, died when his brother's house was bombed by an Israeli warplane.
His death came as Israel sought to deliver a knockout blow to Gaza's Islamist leaders by unleashing the fiercest urban fighting of its 21-day assault on the Gaza Strip.
It represents a major success for Israel which has committed itself to destroying the Hamas leadership. Siam is the most senior Hamas figure killed since Israel began Operation Cast Lead on Dec 27.
The intensification of the ground combat saw Israeli tanks push deep into the heart of Gaza City, clashing with militants but causing controversy when Israeli forces struck the United Nations headquarters and three clearly marked hospitals.
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