Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians, most of them civilians including a Reuters cameraman, in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today, medical officials and witnesses said.
The attacks came after three Israeli troops died in a Hamas ambush near a border fuel pipeline. But despite the bloodiest day's toll in more than a month, Israel allowed European-funded fuel into Gaza to keep its only power plant operational.
"The fuel has started to go through," said a European Union official, referring to the Nahal Oz terminal, close to the scene of clashes in which the three soldiers died.
Seventeen Palestinians, at least 11 of them civilians, were killed in Israeli assaults, Hamas and medical officials said.
The dead included Fadel Shana (23), a Reuters cameraman who was felled outside his car by a blast which locals described as an Israeli air strike. An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no information on an air strike on a vehicle in the area.
At least three youths, a 67-year-old man, and four Hamas gunmen were also among the Palestinian dead.
Nahal Oz was shut down by Israel on April 9th after militants killed two Israeli civilians at the facility. Israel's Defence Ministry had said it would reopen the pipeline today, but the latest attack had raised doubts fuel would flow again soon.
Kanan Abaid, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Energy Authority in the Gaza Strip, said before pumping resumed that the power plant only had enough fuel to operate until Saturday.