ABASSAN AL-KABIRA, March 21: Israeli troops swept into a Gaza Strip village before dawn on Sunday to arrest a senior Hamas militant. By the time the raid ended, five Palestinians were dead, including the militant and his wife.

Hamas and the Israeli army offered different accounts of how Bassem Salem Qudeh and his wife Sanaa died outside their house in the southern Gaza village of Abassan al-Kabira.

The Israeli Army said in a statement that Qudeh and his wife were killed as they fled their house when rifle fire from Israeli soldiers detonated explosives that Qudeh was carrying.

"As he was fleeing, the forces opened fire towards the terrorist causing the detonation of the explosives inside the bag. As a result of the powerful blast, Qudeh and his wife, who had attempted to escape with him, were killed," the Army claimed.

Hamas hailed Qudeh and his wife as heroes and said in a statement they "were able to blow up an explosive charge by a Zionist tank as well as four explosives against Zionist soldiers".

"Afterward, he (Qudeh) blew up a bomb belt in the ranks of Zionist soldiers who were invading his and his wife's home," Hamas said. The Israeli Army said no soldiers were injured or killed.

In all, three militants and two bystanders, including Qudeh's wife and a 32-year-old neighbour, were killed in the raid which sparked a battle with Palestinian gunmen.

"We were in the house sleeping and there was a sound of a loud explosion," said Qudeh's 13-year-old daughter, Islam. "I looked for my parents and I didn't find them...I was scared." The military said a Hamas militant fleeing the village was runover and killed by an army vehicle and a third militant was shot dead. -Reuters