Seven killed in Gaza offensive

Israeli tanks moved into the Nusseirat and Bureij refugee camps in the Gaza Strip early today, witnesses said, killing seven people and destroying two houses.

The offensive followed pledges by Israeli officials to crack down on militants from the violent Islamic Hamas. The Israeli military would say only that an operation was in progress.

Witnesses said the focus of the incursion was the Bureij camp, where soldiers blew up two houses after demanding that the residents leave.

Palestinians said at least two of the seven dead were civilians – a 14-year-old boy who was shot dead and a woman whose house collapsed from the force of the blast next door. The bodies of the dead were still in the camp, residents said, and dozens of wounded from Israeli gunfire were lying untreated in the streets.

For several months, Israel has been destroying houses of militants as a deterrent measure. Palestinians complain that innocent relatives suffer as a result.

Two Hamas leaders were arrested by Israeli forces, Palestinians said - Mohammed Taha, a Hamas founder and leader of the group in the Nusseirat camp. The other was his son, they said.

Residents said Israeli tanks also advanced about half a mile into Nusseirat camp, across the road from Bureij camp.

Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday that Israel would step up its military operations in Gaza, aimed at Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks, including the bombing of an tank in Gaza two weeks ago in which four Israeli soldiers were killed.

It was the second Israeli operation in as many days in Gaza. Early yesterday, tanks accompanied by attack helicopters moved into a section of the city of Khan Younis and knocked down buildings the Israelis said were used by militants for staging attacks on Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire during the offensive.