Two Palestinians killed in fighting with Israeli forces

The Israeli Army dropped leaflets on towns and villages in the Gaza Strip today, warning residents that anyone with an arsenal of weapons in their homes would be attacked.

A short time later, during the army’s second day of an operation in the Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile toward a group of Palestinians standing in an open area, killing one and wounding five, medics said. The casualties included a man dressed in militant fatigues, but most were civilians living in nearby homes, the medics said.

Earlier, a Palestinian teenager was killed in Mughazi as militants and troops exchanged fire, medics said.

After dropping the Arabic-language leaflets warning of “dangerous consequences” for people hiding weapons, military officials said the army was adopting a “new policy” of attacking homes in civilian areas where weapons such as home-made rockets were secretly stored.

In the three-week old offensive, Israeli forces have mostly attacked government compounds and open areas that militants were using to fire rockets toward Israel.

The army’s offensive in Gaza – launched late last month after militants carried out a cross-border raid on a military outpost, killing two soldiers and capturing one – is occurring as Israel continues its major invasion of Lebanon. The fighting in Lebanon broke out on July 12, after Hezbollah attacked a military patrol in Israel, killing eight soldiers and capturing two.

In Gaza, the Israeli army dropped the leaflets throughout the coastal area of the territory warning that “anyone who has, or is keeping an arsenal, ammunitions or weapons in their house must destroy it or they will face dangerous consequences”.

Military officials later said civilians should be aware of the actions of their neighbours and, if militants are storing weapons in the area, their neighbourhoods could be attacked.

The air force often drops leaflets to warn residents in Gaza and Lebanon of an impending attack or other military operation, and to order civilians to evacuate the area.

Troops were operating today in the central Gaza Mughazi area, and a Palestinian, 16, was killed during a gunfight between militants and troops, Palestinian medics said. It was not immediately clear if he was armed. Nine people, eight of them militants, were killed in yesterday’s fighting.

The Israeli air force also fired missiles at an abandoned police station in Gaza early today. No casualties were reported in the attack.

A UN report issued Wednesday said the Israeli army had carried out 168 airstrikes and fired more than 600 shells into Gaza, while Palestinian militants had fired 177 home-made rockets toward Israel.

The report said 100 Palestinians had been killed since the Gaza offensive began, not counting the nine yesterday. Thirty of the 100 were under 18, the UN report said.

Most of the Palestinian fatalities were gunmen, officials in Gaza and Israel have said. At least 15 Palestinian civilians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began in Gaza.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, a stand-off between troops and militants went into its second day.

Three militants were killed in fighting yesterday at the security compound.