North Gaza homes in ruin as Israel pulls out

RESIDENTS of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza dug through the rubble of their damaged homes and UN schools yesterday, after Israeli troops pulled out following a two-day incursion aimed at stopping militants from firing rockets at Israel.

About 15 tanks moved out of populated areas of Beit Hanoun last night and headed toward the nearby Israeli border. Five helicopters hovered overhead, firing flares and machine guns to provide cover for the ground forces.

Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian militants in the town yesterday, killing two and wounding four others, hospital officials said.

That raised the two-day death toll in the area to at least six Palestinians, most of them gunmen, said officials.

The operation in Beit Hanoun was the latest stage of Israel’s wider offensive in the Gaza Strip. It was launched on June 28 after Hamas-linked militants carried out a cross-border attack on a military outpost, killing two soldiers and capturing one.

Israel has rejected the militants’ demand that Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about the Israeli captive.

It has demanded that Hamas guerrillas stop firing home-made rockets at southern Israel.

Following Hezbollah’s attack to the north, Israel has waged a two-front campaign.

In Beit Hanoun, Israeli troops, tanks and bulldozers caused heavy damage to houses, farmland, electric poles and underground water pipes during their two-day operation.

Israel bombed the Palestinian Foreign Ministry twice, collapsing part of the building and damaging dozens of homes nearby.

Israel says Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas used his Government building “to plan anti-Israel operations”.