Israelis kill six as mortar attacks prompt raid

ISRAELI tanks and troops raided southern Gaza yesterday in response to increasing Palestinian mortar attacks, killing at least six Palestinians and prompting hundreds to flee their homes, witnesses and medics said.

At least five other Palestinians were trapped in an arms-smuggling tunnel that collapsed as it was being dug under an army-controlled security strip between the Gaza town of Rafah and nearby Egypt, witnesses from Rafah said.

Palestinian ambulances and rescue crews given clearance by Israeli forces rushed to the scene.