Israelis end deadly Jabalya raid

The Israeli army has pulled back from Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip after a three day assault that killed eight Palestinians.

Israeli tanks continue to be stationed in Gaza

Occupation troops left the area on Saturday but stationed tanks around the nearby Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israeli territory.

Three Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed by Israeli fire on Friday and 50 were wounded. Five more Palestinians died on Thursday, Aljazeera’s correspondent in Gaza said.

The dead included Bahi Nasr, 14, and another as yet unidentified Palestinian who was killed after an Israeli tank opened fire on Friday evening, Palestinian medics said.

Earlier in the raid, a local Hamas chief Abd al-Aziz al-Ashqar, 34, and Salih Hazaa, 22, were also killed by Israeli fire, they added.

Houses demolished

Aljazeera learnt at least 30 houses in the impoverished Jabalya refugee camp were demolished by Israeli troops.

A military source said the troops had shot at Palestinians who were preparing to fire anti-tank rockets.

The air strike came on the third day of a large Israeli incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, an operation the army said was aimed at stopping resistance fighters from firing makeshift rockets into southern Israel.

The attacks bring the toll to 4,303 since the beginning of the September 2000 intifada comprising 3,289 Palestinians and 943 Israelis.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies