GAZA CITY, April 21: Nine Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, raising to 13 the death toll from an Israeli incursion into the northern Gaza Strip that the army said was aimed at halting rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.
The deaths occurred during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in Beit Lahiya, which left another 45 people wounded. This latest round of killings raises the overall toll since the Sept 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising to 3,925, including 2,956 Palestinians.
An Israeli army spokesman said troops had been operating in the area since Tuesday in order to "foil the firing of Qassam rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli communities in and outside the Gaza Strip.
"Fifteen rockets had been fired since Sunday, but thanks to our operation, today and yesterday no more were fired" he said, confirming that both troops and a helicopter had targeted armed Palestinians in the area.
"Forces identified a cell of Palestinians planting explosive devices in the area and an Israeli helicopter fired at them. The forces also identified armed Palestinians and hit them."
The "operation is ongoing", he added. Military sources said army bulldozers levelled agricultural fields in Beit Lahiya to prevent militants from hiding there and firing the makeshift Qassam rockets, named after Hamas' military wing - the Ezzedin al Qassam Brigades.
The Brigades claimed responsibility for several rocket attacks on Tuesday that lightly wounded nine Israelis and came three days after the group's leader, Abdelaziz Rantissi, was killed in an air strike.
Four other Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in Beit Lahiya on Tuesday. The Israeli commander for the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, Gen Dan Harel, said "this wave of rockets is linked to Rantissi's death and will calm down. "We are taking the appropriate measures to ensure the security of the settlements," he added.
The Palestinian Authority denounced the incursion as "a serious escalation", pointing out that it had been carried out despite Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's promise to withdraw from the territory.
"The assassinations and serious escalations in the Israeli aggression prove that Israel has no intention of withdrawing from Gaza as it is pretending, but is trying to sabotage all the efforts to relaunch the peace process," chief Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina said.
POLL: The radical Hamas movement now enjoys the support of more Palestinians than veteran leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement for the first time ever, according to to poll published Wednesday.
Asked for whom they would vote if general elections were called, 31 percent said Hamas, while 27.1 percent opted for Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian politics for decades. -AFP
