Israeli forces seized control of parts of the northern Gaza Strip today, a day after soldiers killed 14 Hamas fighters in the deadliest strike against the leading Palestinian militant group.
Dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles sealed off two Palestinian towns and took up positions outside the Jabalya refugee camp in what the army said was an open-ended operation to stop militants from firing rockets into southern Israel.
Israeli forces surrounded Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya - towns that have been frequently raided - while armoured bulldozers tore up stretches of road to block off the area. There was little resistance other than stone-throwing youths.
Helicopters fired heavy machineguns to keep residents from open areas that have been used to launch rockets, witnesses said. Medics said six Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire.
Despite the operation, the army said militants fired five Qassam rockets that landed near a collective farm in Israel's western Negev desert. There were no reports of casualties.
The incursion, one of the biggest in north Gaza in months, came a week after Hamas suicide bombers killed 16 people on Israeli buses in Beersheba. Israel struck back yesterday, hitting a Hamas training camp and triggering vows of revenge.
The latest spiral of violence could further complicate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw troops and settlers from the occupied Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.
"While Israel speaks about disengagement, its army occupies large parts of the Gaza Strip ... turning it into a big prison," Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said.
Asked about yesterday's Israeli strike and Palestinian threats to retaliate, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters: "I don't think they are helpful... Retaliation is not a solution to the problems we face in the region."
Hamas has led a campaign of suicide bombings of Israelis during a nearly four-year-old uprising. Unlike the mainstream Palestinian Authority, which calls for an independent state alongside Israel, Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.