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Six die in Gaza raid
26/10/2007 16:24 - (SA)
Gaza - Israeli troops killed six
Palestinian gunmen on Friday in some of the heaviest fighting
for weeks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical and militant
sources said.
Two Israeli troops were wounded, the army said, as three
separate raids were mounted into the territory, backed by air
strikes. Seven Palestinian militants and three civilians were
wounded, hospital staff said.
Fighters from Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza,
were joined by other militants in battles that began overnight.
The Israeli army, which described the raids as "routine",
said its forces pulled back in early afternoon and witnesses
said fighting appeared to have ended. Explosions heard throughout Gaza
On Thursday, Israel said
it planned to start cutting power supplies to Gaza in response
to almost daily rocket fire on Israeli towns nearby.
Explosions and gunfire could be heard throughout Gaza and
plumes of smoke billowed from the battle zones, in the north,
south and centre of the 45km strip of coast.
Hamas, which routed forces loyal to Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas to seize control of the territory in June, said
three of its men were killed. Islamic Jihad militants said three
of their number also died in the clashes.
Hamas said its fighters had overrun a small Israeli position
and shot two soldiers. The group showed journalists some Israeli
military equipment, some of it bloodstained - evidence Hamas
leaders said of their fighters' successes.
As the fighting died down, Abbas met Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert in an effort to narrow differences over a possible
peace settlement that the United States hopes to push forward at
a conference to be held near Washington before the year ends.
Hamas's leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, dismissed such
meetings as "a cover for continued Israeli aggression".
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