Israeli troops pull out of northern Gaza

Israeli troops withdrew from northern Gaza early today after a bloody two-day sweep that killed 29 Palestinians, the deadliest concentration of violence since Israel’s incursion began over a month ago.

The Israeli army killed five Palestinians yesterday, including a 75-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy, who was killed by Israeli gunfire as he stood on the roof of his house at the edge of the Jebaliya camp, residents and hospital officials said.

The world’s attention remained focused on Lebanon, however, where Israeli forces have been fighting Hezbollah guerrillas since July 12.

Israel’s army and air force have been attacking the Gaza Strip to try to stop militants from firing rockets at southern Israel and to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier.

Early today, the militant group Islamic Jihad said it launched a rocket at the southern Israeli town of Zikim. The strike wounded two Israeli children who were hit by shrapnel, Israeli rescue services said.

The Israeli operation in Gaza began after Hamas-linked militants killed two soldiers and captured a third, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, in a cross-border raid on a military outpost on June 25. Israeli troops have killed more than 100 Palestinians since its Gaza incursion began.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said after prayers today that his government and other Palestinian factions have been working closely with the Egyptians in the past few hours to end the Israeli offensive.

“I hope that the exit of Israeli forces (from Gaza) today is the beginning of an Israeli commitment to end the aggression the Palestinians have been under,” he said.

A Hamas political leader said today that Hamas would not release Shalit until Israel frees Palestinian prisoners first, and added that the group expected to conduct negotiations for a prisoner swap side-by-side with Hezbollah.

“Tying (the fate of) of the soldier we have and the soldiers with Hezbollah supports the interests of the two people, especially on the issue of prisoners. All choices are open before us,” Osama al-Muzaini said in an interview on a Hamas website.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the Israeli army arrested 22 Palestinians suspected of involvement in militant activity, and a Palestinian youth and a Jewish settler were killed, the army and police said.

After the Israeli pullout from northern Gaza, residents streamed outside before dawn to inspect the damage, and rescue workers found the body of a militant killed in the fighting. Militants began removing mines and explosives they planted to try to stop the Israelis.

In southern Gaza, Israeli aircraft hit a metal workshop in the city of Khan Younis early today, wounding nine people, including two children, hospital officials said. The military said the target was a weapons storehouse.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Algiers that the situation in the Palestinian areas and Lebanon was only likely to get worse after world leaders failed to agree on an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome on Wednesday.

“The situation will worsen and the consequences will be very heavy, not only for the region but probably for the entire world,” he told Algeria’s official APS news agency.

Also in the West Bank, Israeli police found a burned car yesterday with a charred body inside it near the city of Nablus, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Israel Radio said the victim was an Israeli settler who was kidnapped and killed by Palestinians after going into the area to get his car fixed. The radio said the settler had stopped his car to pick up someone dressed as a religious Jew.