Six dead as Israeli troops clash with Palestinians

Israeli troops backed by tanks, attack helicopters and bulldozers raided a Palestinian refugee camp early today, exchanging fire with gunmen that killed at least four people, witnesses said. Two others died in the West Bank.

Soldiers entered the refugee camp near Rafah on the Gaza-Egyptian border. The army said Palestinian gunmen shot at the soldiers, and an Apache helicopter fired back, killing at least one Palestinian.

Three others died in exchanges of fire, and seven were wounded in the clashes, doctors and witnesses said.

The army said the raid was meant to uncover weapons-smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza border, and that four houses were demolished. No tunnels were found, but four soldiers were wounded when a bomb went off under a tank.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli troops shot dead a leader of the militant Hamas group during an early morning raid, the army said.

Khaled Rayyan, 28, was hiding in a relative’s house with his wife and child when soldiers broke down the door, said his wife, Salam Rayyan. Rayyan was killed when he tried to attack the troops with a pistol, she said.

In the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, Israeli troops searching for Palestinian militants late last night shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian when he opened his door to look at troops outside, witnesses said.

The army sad the youth tried to run away from troops, and was shot after he ignored calls to stop.

In the nearby town of Tulkarem, Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian suicide bomber who blew himself up in the coastal city of Netanya almost two years ago.

Israel routinely demolishes the homes of families of suicide bombers calling it a deterrent to other would-be suicide bombers. Palestinians say it is collective punishment.

The tandem military operations came as Mahmoud Abbas, the recently named Palestinian prime minister, met political leaders in the Gaza Strip yesterday to discuss the formation of his new Cabinet, expected later this month.

Abbas, who is widely known as Abu Mazen, also recently met leaders of Islamic militant groups in Gaza, in an effort to persuade them to end, at least for a period, attacks against Israelis.

Israel has said a US-backed “road map” for Palestinian statehood cannot move forward as long as attacks persist. US President George Bush said the road map will be formally presented as soon as Abbas and his Cabinet are officially confirmed.