Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians during raids in the Gaza Strip today.
Five Palestinians, three of whom were civilians, were shot during a raid in the central Gaza Strip. Troops shot dead two others in the Rafah area of south Gaza.
The Israeli army claimed its troops shot gunmen who had tried to attack them as they moved into the Zeitoun neighbourhood, a militant stronghold, from the nearby Jewish settlement of Netzarim.
Medics said a three-year-old girl was also wounded.
In Rafah, medics said two Palestinians were killed by gunfire. Witnesses said they were killed after over-running an abandoned Israeli outpost.
The Israeli army denied the outpost had been overrun and said troops had fired to disperse a group of Palestinians in a forbidden zone.
In Netzarim, a seven-year-old Israeli boy lost his hand when a rocket struck near him, Israeli medics said.
