Israel began today to withdraw its troops from a Palestinian-ruled town in northern Gaza that it entered as part of a sweep for militants responsible for attacks on Israelis.
Palestinian officials said Israeli tanks left Beit Hanoun tonight after ploughing into the area earlier in the day. Israeli troops shot and killed four Palestinians during the raid.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said tanks had begun to leave but that the pullout was not yet complete.
Palestinian officials said Israeli troops arrested 10 members of the militant Hamas group during the raid and destroyed four Palestinian homes and three Palestinian security positions.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli forces killed a fifth Palestinian who they said might have been a suicide bomber trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement.
The Israeli actions were similar to wide-ranging sweeps carried out yesterday in the West Bank and Gaza, in which eight Palestinians were killed and about 50 were arrested.
In New York, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution backed by the Palestinians, which condemned terror acts and called for an end to the Middle east violence. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Mr John Negroponte, said the measure was aimed at isolating Israel politically.
Earlier in Gaza, more than a dozen Israeli tanks, accompanied by armoured personnel carriers and jeeps, entered the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun at the northern tip of Gaza, next to the border with Israel, witnesses said.
The Israeli military, which described the area as a stronghold for militants, announced by loudspeaker that the town was under curfew. The military said its forces came under fire and shot back.
Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Hanoun, including a 12-year-old boy, according to witnesses and Shifa Hospital in nearby Gaza City. The dead also included a Palestinian police officer whose car was hit.
Four fellow officers in the car were wounded. Overall, about 40 Palestinians were injured in the town, hospital doctors said. The military said five Palestinians were arrested, while Palestinians put the number at 10.
The Israelis demolished several houses, including one belonging to the founder of the armed wing of the militant group Hamas, Salah Shahed. However, he was not in the area at the time, witnesses said. Also demolished were offices for Palestinian police intelligence and the local headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, witnesses said.
At the southern end of Gaza, a Palestinian militant carrying grenades attempted to cut a fence and enter the Jewish settlement of Gush Katif, but was shot dead by the Israeli military, the army said.
PA