Israeli Sweep in Gaza Kills 5 Palestinians

07/27/2006

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The Israeli army killed five Palestinians on Thursday, including a 75-year-old woman and a child, one day after the Gaza Strip suffered its deadliest violence since Israel launched its offensive last month.

Also, a Palestinian was shot and killed in Jerusalem after he attacked a police patrol, and the severely burnt body of a man, thought to be Israeli, was found in the West Bank.

Early Friday, Israeli troops and tanks pulled out of northern Gaza, residents said, after a bloody two-day sweep.

Despite a high death toll in Gaza, with 23 people killed on Wednesday alone, the world’s attention has been focused on Lebanon, where Israeli forces have been fighting Hezbollah guerrillas since July 12.

In southern Gaza, Israeli aircraft hit a metal workshop in the city of Khan Younis early Friday, wounding nine people, including two children, hospital officials said. Nearby buildings were also damaged, and rescue workers were searching through the rubble. The military said the target was a weapons storehouse.

Israel’s army and air force have been attacking the Gaza Strip to try to stop militants from firing rockets at southern Israel. The Israeli operation began after Hamas-linked militants killed two soldiers and captured a third in a cross-border raid on a military outpost on June 25.

Palestinians leader Mahmoud Abbas said the situation in the Palestinian areas and Lebanon was only likely to get worse after world leaders failed to agree on an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome on Wednesday.

In Gaza on Thursday, a 75-year-old woman was hit by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell fired at her house near the town of Jebaliya, Palestinian security officials said.

Late Thursday, a 12-year-old boy was killed by Israeli gunfire as he stood on the roof of his house at the edge of the Jebaliya camp across from Israeli forces, residents and hospital officials said.

The military said it did not know of either incident, but Israeli forces were trying to keep civilian casualties to a minimum and regretted loss of innocent lives.

The air force fired missiles at eastern Gaza City, killing a Hamas militant and wounding 14 others. The army said the attack hit a group of armed men before they could fire at troops.

Two Palestinians later died of their wounds, a man hit by an airstrike in eastern Gaza City, and an 18-year-old who was hit when a tank shell fell near his house in northern Gaza, medics said. Three of Amsha’s family members were lightly injured.

Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israeli police found a burned car with a charred body inside it near the city of Nablus, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Israel Radio said the victim was an Israeli who was apparently kidnapped and killed by Palestinians.

The 23 Palestinians killed Wednesday included 16 militants; two unidentified men; a mother and her 5-year-old and 8-month-old daughters; a 3-year-old girl; and a man who was believed to be mentally handicapped.