Nine Palestinians Killed in Clashes

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Nine Palestinians Killed in Clashes

Israeli tanks backed by helicopters stormed into Gaza City early Tuesday and battled Palestinian gunmen in clashes that left nine Palestinians dead and 24 injured, hospital officials said.

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Israeli tanks backed by helicopters stormed into Gaza City early Tuesday and battled Palestinian gunmen in clashes that left nine Palestinians dead and 24 injured, hospital officials said.

The tanks penetrated a half mile into Gaza City in one of the most violent incursions in the city since Israeli forces began a series of operations there in April, witnesses said. The soldiers also blew up a metals factory.

The army confirmed that a military operation was under way in Gaza and said no soldiers had been injured, but declined to comment further.

One of the nine men killed was Mohammed Kishkho, 45, a local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militia, linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Kishkho died of shrapnel wounds suffered from tank shell explosion, said Dr. Moawia Hassanein at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital.

The incursion into the eastern Shejia neighborhood of the city was an apparent effort to enter the homes of several Palestinian militants killed by Israeli troops earlier this year, witnesses said.

Witnesses said Israeli forces demolished the home of Mohammed Farhat, a member of the militant group Hamas shot to death by Israel forces last March after he killed five Jewish students in a Gaza settlement.

Palestinians hit at least one of the 20 tanks used in the operation with explosives, and army bulldozers were attempting to push the tank out of the area, said witness Salim Abu Amr, a schoolteacher. Other witnesses saw Israeli ambulances in the area.

Two helicopters and several bulldozers also took part in the operation, and the troops began carrying out house-to-house searches.

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