Two dead as Israelis raid town in Gaza strip

Israeli troops backed by tanks and attack helicopters raided a Gaza Strip town today, killing two Palestinians during fierce fighting and demolishing abandoned buildings and the exterior wall of a hospital, Palestinian officials and the army said.

Entering the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza before dawn, Israeli forces met fierce resistance.

Firefights erupted with gunmen who used a school, a hospital and a mosque as cover when firing on troops, the army said. Several hours later, the forces withdrew from the town.

Abed Rabbo Assar, 50, was in his apartment watching the Israeli operation when he was shot. He later died in hospital.

Mahmoud Abed Hadi, 27, a gunman, was killed in the fighting, hospital official officials said.

At least 35 Palestinians and two soldiers were wounded.

The latest military operation came hours after Palestinian officials agreed to convene the Palestinian Legislative Council next week and begin the process of appointing a prime minister, one of the reforms Israel and the United States demand as a precursor to the renewal of peace talks.

The army has increased its operations in the Gaza Strip since February 15 when the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas claimed responsibility for planting a bomb on the path of an Israeli tank, which killed all four soldiers inside. It has also been operating in Khan Younis recently after a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli soldier on February 23.

Colonel Pinchas Zoaretz, the commander of the operation, said the raid was to retaliate for the killing of the soldier and to demolish buildings and structures militants were using to fire mortar bombs and Qassam missiles at Israeli towns and settlements.

“We also want to continue putting pressure on the terrorist organisations ... to create a situation in which we are on the offensive and they are on the defensive,” Zoaretz said.

He said troops demolished an eight-story building in which gunmen had hidden 14 times in the past four months while firing on soldiers. Several other abandoned structures used for cover by militants were also destroyed.

Residents of the building rummaged through the rubble, searching for their belongings, while gunmen gathered around the remains, inspecting the destruction. Several damaged ambulances stood in the streets, evidence of the fierce fighting that had rocked the town.

Reflecting the bitterness of many Palestinians, Mohammed Akher, 42, owner of the eight-story building and of a main food distribution warehouse that was also destroyed in the raid – said he was reconsidering his support for peace with Israel.

“The Israeli occupation has added more oil to the fire of heat and tension. If they thought that destroying and killing people will bring security and calm they are mistaken. It will increase the bloody cycle of violence and violence will bring more violence,” Akher said.

During the raid, Palestinians planted bombs and fired anti-tank missiles at the troops, residents said.

Israel’s operation had left 85 people homeless, Palestinian officials said. At least five Palestinians had been arrested.

They said Israeli soldiers demolished the outer wall of Mubarak Hospital and raided Nasser Hospital.

“During tonight’s aggression the occupation army didn’t show any respect to our medical teams and they fired on ambulances and attacked the hospital too,” Dr. Haidar Kidera, the director of Nasser Hospital said.

Zoaretz denied his troops entered hospital grounds, saying soldiers were forced to enter the courtyard of a school – which is not far from one of the hospitals – after militants detonated a bomb at an armoured vehicle, sending it flying into school grounds. Troops entered the schoolyard to rescue the vehicle, he said.

“They are trying to create spin in the media that we attacked a hospital but this never happened,” he said.

The militant Hamas group vowed to retaliate for the Khan Younis raid.

“This battle of honour will continue until we uproot the occupation from our land and our people will avenge the killing and the aggression against Khan Younis and everywhere. The occupation will pay dearly for all the crimes,” said Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi.