Israeli troops blew up an eight-storey block of flats and exchanged fire with gunmen taking cover in a local hospital, school and mosque, killing two Palestinians in a town in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli troops backed by tanks and attack helicopters raided a Gaza Strip town today, killing two Palestinians during fierce fighting and demolishing abandoned buildings and the exterior wall of a hospital, Palestinian officials and the army said.

EVEN battle-tested emergency doctors at Nasser Hospital say they have never had a worse day.

Israeli troops today opened fire on a Gaza Strip hospital where hundreds had gathered after an army raid killed 10 Palestinians and wounded more than 100.

An Israeli was killed at a West Bank settlement today in an attack security forces blamed on Palestinians as the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of escalating the conflict with the killing of a Palestinian baby.