GAZA CITY, April 20: Five Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers during an incursion into the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Mutassem Nassir, 17, Khaldun Abu Jarad, 24, Ibrahim Raheen, 17, and Mohammed al-Taniri, 17, and Mohammed al-Hinawi, 17, were shot dead a few hours apart either by gunfire or shrapnel during the incursion in the Beit Lahiya area, medics said.

Another 30 Palestinians were wounded, three of them seriously, the medics added. The deaths brought the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, to 3,919, including 2,950 Palestinians and 899 Israelis.

Israeli military sources said troops had been deployed in the Beit Lahiya area after around 15 makeshift rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and landed in Israel, wounding nine people and damaging property. The armed wing of the Hamas claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. -AFP