Israel pressed ahead with its incursion into the southern Gaza Strip today as airstrikes killed five Palestinians, including a mother and her two children, and tanks rolled to the edge of Rafah, officials said.

Israel’s top military prosecutor has opened an investigation into a platoon commander whom soldiers accuse of emptying an ammunition clip into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl to ensure she was dead.

SIX Palestinians were killed yesterday and more than 50 wounded

Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen and stone-throwing youths in the southern Gaza Strip today, killing five Palestinians and wounding more than 30, a hospital said.

A fledgling truce between Israel and the Palestinians was facing a fresh challenge today, the first anniversary of the outbreak of violence.