Israeli tanks and bulldozers pulled back from the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya today after tearing up roads, flattening strawberry greenhouses and knocking down walls of dozens of houses in what residents said was the most devastating raid in four years of fighting.

An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a Palestinian car in the Gaza Strip today, killing at least two people.

Three Palestinian children have been killed on the third day of an Israeli army raid on the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

Hamas threatened revenge today after 14 Palestinians were killed in the deadliest Israeli raid in Gaza in 17 months – part of an upsurge in bloodshed linked to a proposed Israeli withdrawal from the coastal strip.

CLASHES between Israeli troops and Palestinians killed at least three people yesterday including a 16-year-old boy, as thousands poured into the streets to mourn seven people killed in a missile strike.

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man today while Hamas militants fired a home-made rocket at an Israeli town in retaliation for a missile strike that killed a top Hamas commander, witnesses said.

Six Palestinians, including a 14-year-old girl and three other civilians, were killed today in gun battles and Israeli reprisal raids.