GAZA CITY, Oct 25: Sixteen Palestinians were killed during a major Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza Strip on Monday as legislators began debate on a planned pullout by Tel Aviv from the territory.

Another 70 Palestinians were injured and two Israeli troops badly wounded in the raid that started late on Sunday, sources on both sides said.

The bloody operation, which the Israeli army said was aimed at halting mortar fire at Jewish settlements and military positions in Gaza, was launched just hours before the Israeli parliament was to begin debating the controversial pullout from the Palestinian territory next year. The plan is to be put to the vote on Tuesday.

The victims, among them an eight-year-old boy, died in either airstrikes or from gunfire and tank shelling in the town of Khan Yunis.

It was not immediately clear if most of the dead were civilians or militants, in the incursion that saw around 30 Israeli armoured vehicles and seven bulldozers enter an 800-metre section of Khan Yunis, occupying an entire neighbourhood.

United Nations statistics showed that the offensive, during which troops tried to stop militant rocket fire at southern Israel, also left 675 Palestinians homeless and caused more than three million dollars worth of damage.

The latest deaths raised to 4,529 the number of people killed since the intifada began in Sept 2000.

Troops also razed three buildings, leaving nearly 60 people homeless, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli military sources confirmed destroying at least one building which they said was the home of Mohammed Sinwar, a local leader of the Hamas movement who it said was responsible for attacks on Jewish settlements in the area.

A spokesman for the Israeli army said four airstrikes launched on Sunday night and early on Monday targeted several groups of armed Palestinians who were either approaching the troops or preparing explosives to use against them.

PULLOUT DEBATE: Israeli MPs on Monday began debating Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to dismantle all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four-phase plan for withdrawal from Gaza and parts of West Bank by the end of next year.