Palestinian governor declares ‘disaster area’

HUNDREDS of Palestinians yesterday sifted through the rubble of homes destroyed in a devastating Israeli raid which left 1,240 people homeless.

The governor of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, declared a “disaster area” and UN officials estimated 1,240 people had been left homeless in what Israel called a search for arms smuggling tunnels.

Israeli forces killed three militants and five civilians in fighting that erupted Friday with a large-scale incursion by tanks and armoured bulldozers backed by helicopter gunships.