MID:Israel kills senior Hamas leader Said Siam in Gaza: Hamas TV
16 Jan 2009 4:34 AM
GAZA CITY, Jan 15 AFP - Israel killed one of Hamas's top leaders in Gaza, interior minister Said Siam, the most senior Islamist to have been killed in the 20-day-old war in the enclave, Hamas television said.
"Leader Said Siam, his son and his brother fell as martyrs in Gaza," reported Al-Quds television, a Hamas station based in Beirut.
A Hamas website confirmed the report.
The three died in an Israeli air strike on the house of Siam's brother north of Gaza City.
Siam belonged to the hardline wing of Hamas and had created the Executive Force, a militia that played a key role in the Islamist takeover of Gaza in June 2007.
The Israeli military confirmed the strike.
"In a joint operation of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) and the Shin Beth (internal security) a short while ago, jets attacked a building" in Gaza while Said Siam was inside with his brother Iyad and a third person, an army spokeswoman told AFP.
"We identified hitting the target."
