Israel kills five more despite Gaza outcry

Israeli troops killed five Palestinian militants early today, hours after the army pledged to forge ahead with an offensive despite harsh international criticism of a deadly attack on a Palestinian demonstration.

At least eight Palestinians, including children and teens, were killed yesterday when Israeli forces fired a missile and tank shells to hold back a crowd of Palestinians protesting at military operations in Gaza. Dozens were wounded.

Palestinians denounced the incident as a massacre.

Israel apologised for the deaths, but blamed Palestinians for allowing gunmen to mix with civilians.

Brigadier General Ruth Yaron, the army’s chief spokeswoman, said today that the offensive – the largest in Gaza in years – would continue until it had obliterated weapons-smuggling tunnels and rounded up militants along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Early today, an Israeli missile strike killed three militants in the Rafah refugee camp, where this week’s operation has been centred. The army said the gunmen were approaching Israeli forces.

Hours later, troops fired a tank shell and killed two militants near the border, Palestinian doctors said.

Since Israel launched its operation early on Tuesday, 39 Palestinians, including several children, have been killed. Dozens have been wounded, and refugee camp residents have been dealing with power outages and lack of water.

Israel raided the refugee camp less than a week after Palestinian militants killed 13 soldiers in Gaza, seven of them along the Egyptian border.

Demolishing homes and roads, troops moved house-to-house in the narrow alleys of Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighbourhood hunting down militants. Early today, forces demolished a four-storey building owned by Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam and a small Islamic sports club.

At one point on yesterday, Palestinian men followed army orders. Waving white flags, they gathered on the main street to be questioned by soldiers. Minutes later, the army fired a tank shell at the demonstration headed in the direction of Tel Sultan.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution early today condemning the loss of life and Israel’s demolition of homes. The United States abstained, allowing a resolution criticising Israel to pass for the first time in two years.

The decision by the United States not to use its veto power – usual practice with resolutions critical of Israel – reflected the White House’s displeasure with the Israeli incursion.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, welcomed the US abstention and called on the US government to “force Israel to accept international forces here to protect the Palestinian people”.

Israel appeared unconcerned about the U.S. vote. Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, attributed the abstention to the “delicate situation in which the United States finds itself today”.

The United States also stopped short of condemning Israel’s attack, but European leaders sharply criticised Israel.

Israel said mistakes such as yesterday’s – when the army said a tank misfired a shell meant to warn off thousands of Palestinians marching toward the besieged Rafah refugee camps – occur in war.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called the deaths “genocide” and a “massacre that stands against all humane, civilised and political principles”.