Israeli troops and armour crossed into the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing seven Palestinian militants, including six from the Islamist Hamas group that controls the coastal territory.
Israeli forces exchanged fire with gunmen in al-Maghazi refugee camp, and some militants said they fired rocket-propelled grenades at the troops.
Medics said seven Palestinian militants were killed and 13 people, including children, were wounded. A Hamas cameraman who was injured by what witnesses said was a tank shell was seen later being shot in the legs from afar as he lay on the ground.
Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 after 38 years of occupation, but has carried out armed incursions and missile strikes in efforts to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets into the Jewish state.
The army spokesperson said soldiers had carried out a routine raid about a kilometre inside Gaza to search for militants, including those involved in rocket attacks against Israel, and to find tunnels used to smuggle weapons.
She said troops had fired at Palestinian gunmen who had edged towards Israeli forces, ignoring calls for them to stop and warning shots.
Six of the militants killed were from Hamas. A seventh was an unarmed man from Islamic Jihad, the group said.
Israeli aircraft attacked militants who came close to troops during the raid, a military spokesperson said. Palestinian medics said two of the gunmen were killed in the air strike.
Palestinian ambulance worker Azmi Abu Dalal said Israeli forces seized him and several colleagues in the camp when they tried to evacuate a wounded Palestinian man from a security post Hamas gunmen had been using and which the army took over.
Abu Dalal said soldiers took them to a nearby house and then used them as human shields to exit the area. Israeli law bans the army from using human shields.
An Israeli military spokesperson said: ”After conducting a preliminary examination, we know nothing about such an incident”.
Israeli soldiers were later seen taking over and destroying a Hamas security post. It was unclear if it was the same one Abu Dalal described. An Israeli tank was also seen rolling over what appeared to be Abu Dalal’s ambulance. – Reuters