MIDDLE EAST: Israel killed four Palestinians in two missile strikes into a Gaza refugee camp yesterday, pursuing what it called a relentless offensive against militants after two suicide bombers struck a strategic Israeli port, writes Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza
Israeli military action against militants and their leaders unfolded on Tuesday when three helicopter missiles hit the house of an Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza city.
Two Palestinians died, one a militant. The commander escaped with minor injuries.
Fighting flared in the Rafah refugee camp after the air strikes as troops backed by tanks and bulldozers demolished at least 16 houses, coming under rifle fire from militants, witnesses said.
The army said it had been searching for arms-smuggling tunnels but found none before pulling out after dark.
The raids followed an Israeli cabinet decision on sustained military action after suicide bombers killed 10 people at the port of Ashdod on Sunday.
The bombing unnerved Israelis because Palestinian attackers slipped out of Gaza for the first time in nearly three and a half years of conflict.
Israel is also keen to prevent militants from claiming victory if prime minister Ariel Sharon goes ahead with plans for a unilateral evacuation of Jewish settlements from Gaza, which is home to 7,500 Jewish settlers and 1.3 million Palestinians.
Top Israeli security and defence officials gave their nod to Sharon yesterday to pull out of most of the Gaza Strip, except for a corridor along the Egyptian border.
In Rafah, on the border, an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles overnight into a group of Palestinians, killing a gunman and a bystander, witnesses said.
Another Israeli missile launched into Rafah at mid- morning killed a 15-year-old youth and critically wounded a boy of 14, who died later, medics said.
In both cases, the missiles targeted armed Palestinian groups preparing to attack Israeli troops, the army said.
Around 10,000 Palestinians joined a funeral march for the Rafah dead. Militants fired into the air and vowed retribution.
More rallied in northern Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp to condemn the army raids and shout support for the two militants who carried out the Ashdod bombings, both locals.
Persistent violence has eclipsed a US-backed "road map" peace plan envisaging Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
Deputy defence minister Zeev Boim linked the offensive to the settler evacuation plan - part of unilateral Israeli moves prompted by the diplomatic vacuum - that would strip Palestinians of chunks of West Bank land they want for a viable state.
"The decision to escalate ongoing operations is intended to prevent Palestinians from turning the disengagement plan, if it is carried out, into some kind of heroic victory over Israel pulling out under fire," Boim said on Israel army radio.-(Reuters)