Gaza woman killed in Israeli raid-medics

GAZA, Sep 21 (Reuters) Israeli special forces backed by a transport helicopter raided a militant stronghold in the southern Gaza Strip today, killing a woman and wounding three other Palestinians in battles with gunmen, medics said.

Witnesses said the woman, 35, died after soldiers stormed a house belonging to a member of the governing Islamic Hamas faction near Rafah, a town on Gaza's southern border with Egypt that sees regular arms smuggling.

The troops also wounded a boy in the house, and two other Palestinians, and arrested one man, witnesses said.

Rafah is an area where Israel believes a soldier abducted by Gazan gunmen in a June 25 border raid, Corporal Gilad Shalit, might be held.

The raid also followed an increase in rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel. Israeli radios reported at least one rocket had been fired early today, causing no casualties.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that troops were raiding the Rafah area but had no further comment.

The troops swept into the town under darkness in lightly armoured jeeps, and an Israeli transport helicopter landed at the site after clashes erupted, possibly to evacuate casualties, witnesses said.

Israeli forces have mounted several major operations in Gaza since Shalit's capture, killing more than 210 Palestinians, about half of them civilians.

Israel quit Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation in what it called a bid to defuse violence.

Reuters BDP DB1047