Israelis kill seven Palestinians in clashes

AT least seven Palestinians were shot dead and an Israeli officer was critically wounded during heavy clashes in this northern Gaza town, while Israeli troops also carried out raids in the West Bank.

Medical and security sources said that at least five of the Palestinian victims were armed militants, four of them from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and a fifth from the armed wing of the Islamist movement, Hamas.

Dr Mahmud al-Asali, head of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalya refugee camp, named the Brigades fighters as Yussuf al-Zaanin, Nasser Abu Khirdid, Zaher Abu Khirid and Naim al-Qafarna, all in their 20s. The group is loosely affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.