GAZA, July 13: Palestinians complaining of food shortages trudged out of a sealed Gaza Strip town on Tuesday for the first time since the Israeli army invaded two weeks ago to stop rocket attacks on southern Israel.

They returned to Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, in the afternoon on donkey carts laden with flour, potatoes, rice and bread as Israeli forces briefly let townspeople through.

"The kids need tea, bread, food. We just had a bit of flour and rice left. There were no vegetables," said Hania Muhammad Muslih. She sat on a donkey cart loaded with sacks of flour to feed an extended family of more than 20 people.

The Israeli army moved into Beit Hanoun last month in response to rocket fire that killed two Israelis, including a three-year-old boy, in the town of Sderot. It said it could stay for months.

Fifteen Palestinians - eight militants and seven civilians including a nine-year-old boy - have been killed since the siege began. Doctors said a pregnant Palestinian woman was shot and seriously wounded on Saturday when she tried to leave to get food for her family.

Israel had previously conducted periodic raids into Palestinian areas while maintaining a regular presence mainly in the vicinity of Gaza's 21 Jewish settlements, which Israel plans to evacuate next year. -Reuters