Five Palestinians dead in Gaza clashes ( 2003-10-10 15:11) (Agencies)
Israeli troops and Palestinian
gunmen clashed in Gaza Strip's Rafah refugee camp on Friday and a military
commander reported five Palestinian gunmen were killed in the fighting.
Palestinian medics reported three Palestinians were killed, including two
gunmen and that 20 people were wounded including two women listed in serious
condition and a nine-year-old boy with a back injury.
The clashes erupted after Israeli soldiers and about 30 tanks and armored
carriers, backed by two attack helicopters, raided the camp on Gaza's border
with Egypt late Thursday, in an effort to destroy tunnels used to smuggle
weaponry.
"Rafah is the strategic point for fueling Palestinian terrorism in the Gaza
Strip and beyond," said an Israeli army officer in the field.
"Such is the degree of recent arming by the terrorist groups in the Gaza
Strip, posing a threat to Israelis both inside and out, that we had no choice
but to strike deep against the tunnels," the officer said.
An Israeli army officer identified by Israel Radio as brigadier-general Ofer
said soldiers shot dead five Palestinian gunmen as they met "tough resistance"
when they entered the camp. He said the Palestinians had fired anti-tank rockets
and hurled grenades.
Palestinian medics said two gunmen were killed, one from the Hamas militant
group and the other from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades linked to Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
The medics said 20 people were wounded, including six hit by rockets fired
from Israeli helicopters. Two women listed in serious condition were hit by
bullets while inside their homes, the medics said.
An Israeli army spokesman said a soldier was slightly wounded in the eye by
shrapnel from an explosive.
The Israeli general said the raid would go on "for as long as we need to find
and liquidate the tunnels," some of which he said was used to smuggle weapons
into Israel to attack civilians.
After more than seven hours fighting, none of an estimated dozen tunnels
being sought had been located, but three homes suspected of hiding tunnels were
destroyed, an officer in the field told Reuters.
