Six Palestinians killed as Israeli tanks enter southern Gaza

Israeli troops raided southern Gaza early today, killing at least six Palestinians – four of them militants.

One of the dead was an eight-year-old boy.

It is the latest stage of Israel’s month-long offensive, Palestinian officials said.

About 50 tanks, accompanied by bulldozers, pushed into an area near the Gaza-Egypt border before dawn, taking up positions near the long-closed Gaza airport, residents and Palestinian security officials said. The forces advanced about five miles, the farthest since the offensive started in late June, blocking a main highway and the eastern entrance to Rafah, a town on the Egyptian border.

As the tanks took up positions, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at four groups of gunmen, killing four. Twenty-six Palestinians were wounded in the airstrikes, at least 10 of them militants, security and hospital officials said.

Later, forces fired a tank shell at residents gathering in the area after daybreak, killing an eight-year-old boy and wounding three people, one a four-year-old girl, hospital and security officials said.

A fifth body was brought to the hospital early today, but the circumstances of his death and whether he was a militant was not immediately clear.

The army confirmed Israeli forces were carrying out an operation in southern Gaza. The air force fired at militants who were about to launch anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces, the army said.

Israel launched Gaza offensive after a June 25 cross-border raid by Hamas-linked militants who tunnelled under the frontier and attacked an Israeli army post, killing two soldiers and capturing a third.

Israeli ground forces have moved in and out of several parts of the territory regularly since then, confronting armed militants and leaving behind considerable destruction.