Israel pushes deeper into refugee camp

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza’s Rafah refugee camp today, killing seven Palestinians and demolishing several buildings despite an international outcry over a deadly tank attack on a group of protesters.

At least eight Palestinians, many of them children, were killed by Israeli fire as they demonstrated yesterday against the military operation.

Adding to world anger were the sight of bloodied children and reports of overwhelmed doctors treating dozens of wounded on blood-drenched hospital floors.

Israel apologised for the deaths, saying its troops did not deliberately fire on marchers. A preliminary army investigation concluded that a warning shot fired by a tank had flown through a building and hit the crowd, security sources said.

Israel also blamed the Palestinians, saying gunmen had infiltrated the civilian crowd. Witnesses denied militants were among the marchers, and Palestinian leaders denounced the incident as a massacre.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning the loss of life and Israel’s demolition of homes. The United States abstained, the first time in nearly two years that it didn’t exercise its veto on a resolution sharply critical of Israel.

Brigadier General Ruth Yaron, the army’s chief spokeswoman, said that the Rafah offensive – the largest in Gaza in years – would continue until troops obliterate weapons-smuggling tunnels and round up militants along the Gaza-Egypt border.

By today, the army had moved into five neighbourhoods in the camp, which is home to about 90,000 Palestinians. Light exchanges of gunfire were reported, and Israeli Apache helicopters flew overhead.

Residents said Israeli troops demolished eight homes overnight, and said bulldozers moved into a street in the Brazil area of the camp today, knocking down two homes and a shop in their path.

“I saw women and children running in the street,” said resident Mofed Matar. “They were not able to evacuate any of their belongings.”

The army said it was checking the report but said it only destroyed homes to uncover tunnels or when gunmen were using them to attack Israelis.

Matar said the army had ordered Palestinian men between the ages of 16 and 45 to surrender at a local school, waving white flags.

An Israeli missile strike killed three militants in the Rafah camp early today. The army said the gunmen were approaching Israeli forces. Hours later, troops fired a tank shell and killed two militants, Palestinian doctors said.

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

Since Israel launched its operation on Tuesday, at least 39 Palestinians, including several children, have been killed. Dozens have been wounded,.

Local officials warned of a looming humanitarian crisis unless electricity and water supplies were restored.

Humanitarian groups called on Israel to ease its grip on Rafah. The International Committee of the Red Cross called on Israel to exercise “the greatest restraint” and ensure the wounded had access to adequate medical facilities.