Israeli troops sweep into Gaza Strip

ISRAELI tanks and troops swept through the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip early yesterday, killing a Palestinian gunman, damaging houses and blowing up suspected weapons factories.

Along with six metal workshops, 20 houses were badly damaged in the Israeli raid, Palestinians said, leaving families homeless. A gunman from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, was killed in a fierce gunbattle and six other people were injured, Palestinian doctors said.

Khalid Abdullah, 34, said his house was destroyed. “I took my 5 children and my wife and we spent all night in the street,” he said.