Israeli Troops Kill more Palestinians

21/07/2006| IslamWeb

The Israeli army has killed one Hamas fighter and four civilians in central Gaza.

The five Palestinians died when Israeli shells hit their house in Gaza City's Shijia district on Monday morning, medics and Hamas members said.

The Israeli attack killed the Hamas fighter and four of his relatives, including his mother and two of her grandchildren.

The deaths came only hours after Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of central Gaza.

Their withdrawal from the area ended a three-day raid which has caused the death of 15 Palestinian fighters and civilians.

The Israeli military re-entered Gaza in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas's armed wing in a cross-border raid on June 25.

The Israeli army also wants to halt Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages.

Israeli armoured forces are still carrying out operations inside parts of northern and southern Gaza.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian security officer shows the full fridges of the morgue at the Deir al-Balah hospital in the central Gaza Strip after the Israeli military shelled the nearby Maghazi refugee camp. Israel pressed on with its air, sea and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, where nearly 100 people have been killed in two weeks, warning civilians that homes storing weapons were now a target.(AFP)