Israeli army raids Gaza
2004-09-29 15:03
Jabalia - Five Palestinians, including three teenage boys and two militants, were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied territories on Wednesday as the army pressed on with a massive raid into the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli tanks and jeeps, backed by helicopters, swarmed into the Gaza Strip near the Jabalia refugee camp late on Tuesday in an operation it says is aimed at halting rocket attacks.
Three Palestinians were killed and 17 wounded as Israeli troops clashed with gunmen around Jabalia. The dead were identified as 22-year-old Tawfik Ali Sharafi, a fighter with Hamas' armed wing the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, and teenage boys Ahmed Madi, 17, and Said Abu Eish, 14.
Another boy, 13-year-old Mohammed Jaber, was killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire on stone-throwing youths near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim further south in the Gaza Strip, medics said.
4 351 killed
And in the West Bank, Israeli troops killed a wanted Palestinian militant at down in the northern city of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said.
The latest casualties brought to 4 351 the number of people killed since the start of the Palestinian intifada or uprising exactly four years ago, including 3 332 Palestinians and 948 Israelis, according to an AFP count.
In Jabalia, gunmen were hiding in the camp's narrow alleys as several helicopters were flying overhead, surveying the area. Several tanks were blocking the camp's entrance and troops had taken over at least one residential building as a makeshift base.
The raid came hot on the heels of militant rocket attacks on southern Israel.
"This operation aims to decrease the launching of rockets and mortars in and outside the Gaza Strip," an army spokesperson said.
Three rockets hit the town of Sderot on Tuesday, just across the border from the Gaza Strip, where several residents were treated for shock. A fourth landed on a road close to a nearby kibbutz or communal farm but caused no casualties.
The Israeli army has been battling with rocket attacks for months, including a five-week offensive in the northern Gaza Strip that ended in early August and a four-day raid in the same area earlier this month.