Israeli tanks enter Gaza, clash with militants

GAZA, Aug 22: Israeli tanks entered the eastern Gaza Strip today and troops clashed with Palestinian fighters there, wounding at least three militants, witnesses and Palestinian sources said.

Witnesses said several Israeli tanks, supported by unmanned drones in the sky, entered Gaza near the Karni crossing, the main terminal for goods entering and leaving the densely populated strip.

Three Palestinian fighters were wounded in clashes that broke out when they resisted the Israeli incursion, Palestinian sources said.

An army spokesman confirmed that Israeli forces were operating in the Karni area but declined further comment.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers also entered a village east of Khan Younis. One Palestinian civilian was lightly wounded, witnesses said.

Israel has repeatedly carried out brief incursions into Gaza since launching an air and ground offensive in late June to rescue a soldier captured by Palestinian militants and to stop rocket fire from the strip into Israel.

Overnight, Israel carried out air strikes at houses in Jabalya, a district of Gaza City, in the northern part of the strip, and the southern Gaza town of Rafah after telling residents to leave their homes, witnesses said.

They said the strikes were apparently aimed at the homes of members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups.

Gaza, a narrow coastal piece of land that is home to 1.4 million Palestinians, was occupied by Israeli troops until August last year, when soldiers and about 8,000 Jewish settlers pulled out after nearly 40 years of occupation.

A week ago, armed men kidnapped two journalists from the Fox TV network, an American and a New Zealander, as they were working in Gaza City. There has been no word on their whereabouts and no claim of responsibility for their abduction.

While kidnappings have not been uncommon in Gaza in recent years, most abductions are resolved in a matter of hours without any harm being done.

REUTER