Palestinian gunmen kill Israeli soldier in Gaza

GAZA, Sep 12 (Reuters) Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip today, the army said, announcing its first fatality in the territory since renewing ground operations three months ago.

The armed wing of the governing Hamas movement and the Popular Resistance Committees said in a joint statement they carried out an ambush, killing an Israeli officer and wounding several other soldiers.

''I can confirm that an Israel Defence Forces non-commissioned officer was killed by gunfire,'' an army spokesman said.

''(Soldiers) were fired upon in central Gaza ... during an operation to eliminate terrorist infrastructure.'' Israeli troops and settlers quit Gaza a year ago but the army launched a ground offensive in the area after Palestinian militants including Hamas gunmen seized a soldier in a cross-border raid on June 25. He is still being held.

More than 210 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli operations against militants over the past three months.

The Hamas armed wing released a videotape showing a seized automatic rifle and mobile phones they said belonged to the dead officer.

On the tape, a masked Hamas gunman in military fatigues vowed the group would seize more Israeli soldiers.

Describing the latest violence, witnesses said gunmen had exchanged fire with soldiers in central Gaza after troops backed by tanks had moved across the border just after dawn.

The clash came a day after Palestinian factions agreed to form a unity government to try to end Western sanctions imposed on the Hamas-led administration for refusing to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

Israel has responded sceptically to the unity government while the Hamas Islamist movement has said it would never recognise the Jewish state.

Earlier, an Israeli air strike destroyed the two-storey central Gaza home of a senior security official in the Interior Ministry, witnesses said. No one was wounded.

An Israeli army spokesman said the house was targeted because it was being used to store weapons.

In addition to serving in the Interior Ministry, the official whose home was targeted is a member of Hamas, Palestinian officials said.

REUTERS SAM RAI2006