Israeli incursion into Gaza
2004-03-07 08:47
Gaza City - At least nine Palestinians have been killed and 20 injured during an Israeli army incursion into the al-Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials say.
The Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire as they pushed into the camps in the centre of the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli military official confirmed an operation was underway in the al-Bureij camp and said "armed militants" had been confronted.
The incursion follows an abortive twin attack using mock Israeli jeeps on the Erez crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Saturday in which three suicide bombers and two Palestinian policemen were killed.
Israeli public radio said the soldiers were looking for Qassam rockets, makeshift devices used by the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Qassam rockets are named after the Hamas military branch, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, which has carried out most of the suicide bombings in Israel during the current Palestinian intifada, or uprising.