Twelve Palestinians were killed and another 50 injured during a major Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian medical and security sources said.
The bloodshed came just hours before the Israeli Parliament was to debate a controversial pull-out from the Gaza Strip next year, and followed a major operation targeting militants in the northern Gaza Strip that left 130 Palestinians dead and hundreds injured.
One of the latest victims in the new operation in the southern Gaza Strip was an eight-year-old child, Hisham Ashur, who was killed by a bullet to the neck in Khan Yunis, medics said.
A Palestinian police officer, an 18-year-old youth and a 24-year-old man were also killed in the same area, medical and security sources said.
Their deaths raised to 4 526 the number of people killed since the second intifada began in September 2000, including 3 496 Palestinians and 956 Israelis.
Earlier, another eight Palestinians were killed, including civilians, in a series of raids on the area.
Most died when the army fired at least four air-to-ground missiles at the area, one of which hit a national security-service position, security officials said.
Two of the victims were members of the security services, while another was said to be a civilian who was gunned down by automatic weapons fire, they said.
Palestinian medics said about 50 people had been injured since fighting broke out, while Israeli military sources reported that two soldiers were lightly injured during the operation.
Troops also razed three buildings, leaving nearly 60 people homeless, Palestinian security sources said.
Israeli military sources confirmed destroying at least one building, which they said was the home of Mohammed Sinwar, a local leader of the radical Hamas movement who was responsible for a series of attacks on Jewish settlements in the area.
A spokesperson for the Israeli army said the four air strikes targeted several groups of armed Palestinians that were either approaching the troops or preparing explosives to use against them.
The spokesperson said “military activity” was heightened in the area after Palestinians had fired dozens of mortar rounds against Jewish settlements in recent days.
The incursion kicked off late on Sunday when about 30 Israeli armoured vehicles and seven bulldozers entered an 800m section of Khan Yunis, occupying an entire neighbourhood.
The latest flare-up occurred just 10 days after Israeli troops wrapped up a major operation in the northern Gaza Strip, which left 130 Palestinians dead.
According to the army, Operation Days of Penitence — which started on the exact date marking the four-year anniversary of the intifada — was designed to put an end to the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants on southern Israel.
United Nations statistics showed the offensive left 675 Palestinians homeless and caused more than $3-million-worth of damage.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been trying to deliver a knock-out punch to the militants in Gaza, eager to counter criticism that his planned withdrawal of all troops and Jewish settlers from the territory will merely serve to strengthen armed factions there. — Sapa-AFP
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