Five killed in Israeli hunt for body parts

ISRAELI troops fired missiles, demolished buildings and raided homes in a densely populated Gaza City neighbourhood yesterday in a bid to recover the body parts of six soldiers killed by Palestinian militants.

A Palestinian militant group said yesterday it reached agreement with Israel on the return of the remains.

Five Palestinians were killed and 43 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in yesterday's fighting, the biggest Israeli offensive into Gaza in years. No Israeli casualties were reported.

Dozens of armoured vehicles patrolled deserted streets, snipers took up positions on rooftops and Apache helicopters hovered overhead, firing occasional bursts of gunfire.

Israel had promised a harsh reprisal following the bombing yesterday of an Israeli armoured vehicle that killed the six soldiers and scattered their remains. After the attack, Palestinian militants flaunted soldiers' body parts for TV cameras.

The Palestinian Authority, along with Egypt, urged Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants to return the remains. Defiant militants said there would be no release until Israel pulled its troops out of the area and returned body parts of Palestinian militants.

Israel is known for going to great lengths to recover the bodies of fallen soldiers: because Jewish law requires the body to be buried intact and the army fears militants will try to use the remains as bargaining chips.

After an overnight lull, the heavily armed Israeli forces, backed by tanks and combat helicopters, resumed their searches shortly after daybreak.

Gun battles erupted. Soldiers confined tens of thousands of residents in the densely populated Zeitoun neighbourhood scene of yesterday's explosion to their homes.

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles during the fighting. One hit a building, wounding nine people. The second hit a crowd of people gathered outside a mosque, killing three Hamas members and wounding 28 others, mostly civilians. Two girls were among the wounded.

The army said both attacks were aimed at militants planting bombs.

Huge bulldozers flattened agricultural land, uprooted trees, crushed cars and destroyed parts of the main road and water pipes.

The army also told Palestinian officials that it had shut down Gaza's border crossings into Egypt and Israel and barred Palestinian fishermen from going to sea.