Israeli army kills three Palestinians as search ends

ISRAELI army forces killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip yesterday as they wound up a search for weapons-smuggling tunnels in a southern refugee camp on the border with Egypt.

Violence has surged in Gaza since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he planned to pull out soldiers and settlers by the end of 2005, leading Palestinian militants and the army to vie for supremacy before the withdrawal.

In the West Bank, Palestinian militants publicly machine-gunned a "collaborator" with Israel before hundreds of approving spectators in a town square.