Israeli troops have shot and killed four Palestinians during a raid in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Rafah today.
The Israeli army said three armed Palestinians were shot and killed in Rafah when troops entered the camp to arrest a senior Islamic militant in the area. It had no immediate report of a fourth death.
Palestinian witnesses said soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters entered Rafah before dawn on Monday under cover of heavy machine gunfire that drew response from Palestinian gunmen.
In the initial exchange, two armed Palestinians, a 19-year-old reportedly from the Islamic militant group Hamas and a 35-year-old militant affiliated with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, were killed, Palestinian medics said.
An attempt to arrest, militant Yasser Abu al-Aesh (35) led to another gunfight in which the suspect and his 37-year-old brother were shot dead.
The Gaza killings followed a rare raid into the West Bank town of Jericho yesterday in which one wanted Palestinian died.
Yesterday, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said a threat by the militant Hamas group to kidnap Israeli soldiers strengthened Israel's resolve to go after Islamic militant leaders.