Israel kills Palestinian in Gaza, presses offensive

GAZA, Nov 5 (Reuters) Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian gunman and kept up missile strikes against militant targets in northern Gaza today, residents and medical officials said.

The army has said its latest operation in Gaza, now into a fifth day and focused on the town of Beit Hanoun, aims to halt the firing of homemade missiles at Israel.

It is part of a wider offensive launched in late June after militants, including members of the governing Hamas movement, abducted an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid from Gaza.

Medical officials said the dead gunman belonged to the Hamas armed wing. He was shot in a clash with troops in Beit Hanoun.

Another Palestinian was wounded.

Israeli forces have killed 46 people in the five-day assault, more than half of them gunmen, Palestinian medical officials have said.

The army said it was pressing on with the operation.

''Beit Hanoun serves as a main launching ground for rockets fired into Israel and is a hub of activity for the different terror organisations in the Gaza Strip,'' it said in a statement.

Beit Hanoun is home to some 30,000 people.

The operation is one of the biggest since the army and Jewish settlers pulled out of Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation.

The violence has scuttled hopes of any resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, already a remote prospect since Hamas took power in March following elections. Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.

Since the start of the overall offensive in late June, 320 Palestinians have been killed, around half of them civilians, hospital officials and residents say. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Militants have fired around 300 homemade missiles at Israel this year from Gaza, Israel says. They are rarely deadly.

REUTERS SP BST1448