Israeli occupation forces invaded a northern Gaza Strip town and started building camps in commandeered houses, killing six Palestinians in a major operation to stamp out resistance activists firing rockets into southern Israel and at internationally illegal Jewish settlements.Four other Palestinians and an Israeli occupation soldier died as a result of violence elsewhere in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Mofaz Warns of Indefinite Occupation

As the army dug in, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz warned troops would stay in Beit Hanun, north of Gaza City, until it had eliminated the risk of Hamas resistance activists firing crude homemade rockets across the border.

But hours later defiant Hamas members fired another two rockets into southern Israel, one of them hitting the town of Sderot without causing damage or injuries.

Israel has reoccupied the West Bank since June last year but has so far confined itself to large raids into the Gaza Strip, a bastion of Palestinian resistance from Hamas and Jihad.

Palestinian Bodies Mutilated

The director of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Moawea Abu Hassanein, said the bodies of Abu Shara and Garbawi had been mutilated by the Israeli occupation soldiers, and said it was possible the men had been still alive when their throats were stabbed.

He said both men had been shot but also had "deep stab wounds on the neck." He said Abu Sharar had also had his eyes "cut out" and that his skull was smashed.

The occupation army declined any immediate comment.

Palestinian Houses Demolished

The occupation army also dynamited six houses belonging to slain or wanted activists, including several belonging to Hamas members and one belonging to the father of an Islamic Jihad resistance man killed trying to infiltrate Israel on Friday.

Beit Hanun has often been used by Hamas to launch homemade rocket attacks on Israeli targets, including four last Wednesday.That attack injured three Israelis. The rocket attacks have triggered major Israeli incursions in the past, leaving dozens dead.

The Palestinian Authority, fearing the attacks could weaken its infrastructure while boosting support for Hamas, had cracked down on the Qassam rocket-launchers, but officials said three of the 11 people killed in a raid last week were security officers on patrol to prevent the attacks.

Palestinian Sniper Kills Israeli Occupation Soldier

A Palestinian sniper shot dead an Israeli occupation soldier in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in southern Gaza. The attack in the morning was claimed in a statement by the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Later in the day, occupation army fire on the nearby town of Khan Yunis killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and injured two others.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinians in a Gaza City funeral procession grieve as men carry the body of Wael al-Gharbawi, one of six people who were killed during an Israeli occupation army incursion in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003.. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsle