Palestinian killed by Israeli tank shell

A Palestinian was killed when an Israeli tank shell hit his truck early today, and Israeli aircraft struck targets in several parts of Gaza.

Palestinians said the truck took a wrong turn and approached Israeli forces in central Gaza. A tank fired a shell, hitting the vehicle. The driver escaped, but a passenger was wounded and later died.

The Israeli military said the truck drove within 30 yards of an Israeli position and ignored orders to stop. Then a tank fired a shell at the truck, hitting it.

Israeli forces have been operating inside Gaza since June 28, after Palestinian militants tunnelled under the border and attacked an Israeli army post at a crossing, killing two soldiers and capturing a third, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19.

The invasion also was aimed at stopping Gaza’s militants from firing rockets at southern Israel.

Early today, witnesses reported Israeli tanks moving in southern Gaza. The military said they were rotating forces in and out of the territory.

Israeli aircraft hit several locations before daybreak, damaging a main road in central Gaza and hitting offices and training camps of militants and Hamas politicians in northern Gaza. No one was hurt.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers withdrew from central Gaza, where they had blocked travel between northern and southern Gaza and clashed with militants for three days, the Israeli military said.

Since the offensive began, 86 Palestinians have been killed, many of them gunmen. The civilian victims included a 10-year-old Palestinian child who died in a hospital today, four days after being wounded in Beit Lahiya, a village in northern Gaza.

An Israeli soldier also was accidentally killed during the offensive by friendly fire.

Hamas politician Mushir al-Masri said Israel’s offensive would not achieve its goals.

“The Zionists are mistaken if they think that solving the case of their captured soldier can come through escalation,” he said. “This case is not gong to be solved for free.”

Israel has rejected negotiations or releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.

Egypt and Turkey have tried without success to mediate an end to the crisis.

Yesterday, the United States vetoed an Arab-backed UN Security Council resolution that would have demanded that Israel halt its offensive in the Gaza Strip and urged Palestinian militants to free Shalit and stop firing rockets at Israel.

The United States was alone in voting against the resolution, sponsored by Qatar on behalf of other Arab nations.

Ten of the 15 Security Council nations voted in favour, while Britain, Denmark, Peru and Slovakia abstained.