Israeli forces kill 5 Palestinians in Gaza clashes

GAZA, Aug 28: Israeli forces killed two members of a Hamas-led security force, two presidential guards and a civilian in violence in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian security officials said.

The deaths raised to nine the number of Palestinians killed since Israeli forces entered Gaza City's Shijaia district, an Islamist militant stronghold, on Saturday.

Palestinian security officials said the two Hamas men and two presidential guards were killed in an Israeli air strike.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said she knew of three casualties: two gunmen shot dead by ground forces and a third hit by a missile launched by an aircraft.

The army said its incursion into the Shijaia was aimed at rooting out tunnels and explosives.

In a later incident, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian near Rafah airport in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said, identifying him as a civilian. The Israeli army had no immediate comment.

In separate violence, members of the Hamas-led police force opened fire on a Palestinian car near the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, killing one of its passengers.

A spokesman for the force said the car matched the description of a stolen vehicle and its driver had ignored orders to stop at a checkpoint.

''The car drove into members of the squad, who fired twice in the air to try to force it to stop, and they were surprised by gunshots from passengers in the vehicle,'' the spokesman said.

''Members of the force were forced to return fire.'' More than 180 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched an offensive in June aimed at recovering a captured soldier and ending cross-border rocket fire.

Reuters