Seventeen Palestinians killed in Gaza and WBank

GAZA, Nov 8 (Reuters) Israeli tank fire struck houses in northern Gaza today, killing 12 Palestinians, Palestinian medical staff said.

They said the dead included women and children but had no exact figures.

The Israeli military said it was not immediately aware of any shell having been fired in the area.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinian gunmen and a civilian in a raid, Palestinian security sources said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops had opened fire during an operation to arrest wanted gunmen in the village of Yamoun, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

Earlier, an Israeli warplane bombed and destroyed the home of a leading Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip in a raid that caused no casualties because occupants were warned in time to leave, Hamas and security sources said.

The attack on the Gaza City home of Ahmed el Jabari, second in command in Hamas' military wing, occurred a day after Hamas militants fired rockets at Israel, including several that struck the city of Ashkelon but caused no casualties.

Israeli troops completed their largest military operation in Gaza in a year yesterday after killing 60 gunmen and civilians in a week-long incursion in the Beit Hanoun area that Israel said was designed to stop rocket attacks.

Soldiers killed eight Palestinians in separate incidents in Gaza yesterday.

Israel had pulled its forces out of Gaza last year after a 38-year occupation.

But tensions have flared since Hamas rose to power after winning Palestinian elections in January, and gunmen captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid in June.

REUTERS PB BD