Israel freed one of the co-founders of the militant Palestinian Hamas today after holding him without trial for the past 14 months.

ISRAELI troops raiding a Gaza refugee camp arrested a Hamas founder yesterday, targeting the political leadership of the Islamic militant group for the first time in 29 months of fighting.

Israeli tanks moved into the Nusseirat and Bureij refugee camps in the Gaza Strip early today, witnesses said, killing seven people and destroying two houses.