The raid came hours after an Israeli bulldozer killed U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie — the first international peace protester killed in 29 months of violence — while demolishing a building near the Gaza-Egypt border. The army said the driver couldn't see Corrie because the windows in the bulldozer are so small.
The latest violence came ahead of a Palestinian Legislative Council meeting scheduled for later Monday. Legislators were to consider a demand by Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) to reduce the powers of the new prime minister position, changes that could derail efforts to restart peacemaking.
Israeli forces entered the Nusseirat refugee camp at about 4 a.m. as residents headed to the mosques for morning prayers and farmers began harvesting their crops to take to the Gaza City market, witnesses said. The raid ended about four hours later.
Gun battles erupted and the army blew up the home of the Saafen family, well-known supporters of Islamic Jihad, a militant group responsible for killing scores of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.
At least five Palestinians, including the four-year-old girl, Hanan Assar, were killed in the fighting, hospital officials said. At least two gunmen and two teenagers are among the dead. Nineteen people were wounded, three of them critically.
Mohammed Saafen, 34, a camp leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade — a militant group affiliated with Arafat's Fatah (news - web sites) movement — was killed while fighting off troops from inside his home, which the forces later blew up, officials and witnesses said.
"Since the beginning of the operation the bullets have been raining from the sky and have entered every inch of our small house. I am hardly able to hide with my children under the stairs and we are awaiting God's mercy," said Naima Jabber, 39, a mother of 12 who lives in Nusseirat. "The sounds of the explosions are shaking our house like there is an earthquake (news - web sites)."
Meanwhile, three tanks entered the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and fired randomly as students headed to school, witnesses said. At least three people were wounded.
In the West Bank town of Jenin, troops backed by some 20 armored vehicles entered the town and began doing house-to-house searches for militants, residents and officials said. Gun battles erupted in the town's eastern neighborhood, a stronghold for militants. No casualties were reported.
Corrie, the 23-year-old student from Olympia, Wash., was a member of the International Solidarity Movement and was among eight protesters on the Gaza-Egypt border — four American and four British — protesting the demolition, activists said.
Israeli military spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said Corrie's death was an accident. The military said soldiers were looking for weapons and arms-smuggling tunnels — routine operations in that area.
Groups of international protesters have gathered in several locations in the West Bank and Gaza, setting themselves up as "human shields" to try to stop Israeli operations there. Members of the pro-Palestinian group back Palestinian claims to the territories and consider Israel's presence there illegal.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian council prepared to meet to consider Arafat's demands to dilute the new prime minister's powers. Arafat, under intense international pressure to relinquish some of his authority, has agreed to appoint his No. 2 in the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, to the position of prime minister.
However, since the parliament approved the creation of the new position on March 10 and left Arafat in command of security forces and with the final word on peace talks, the Palestinian leader has begun to backtrack, Palestinian officials said.
Arafat is seeking to amend the new laws so he will be allowed to convene the Cabinet and have final say over its makeup, they said.
If Israel or the United States determine that the changes make the prime minister dependent on Arafat, that could derail attempts to restart Middle East diplomacy. President Bush (news - web sites) said Friday he would present a peace plan known as the "road map" if the Palestinians install a credible prime minister.
Israel and the United States refuse to allow their officials to deal with Arafat and were hoping that the new prime minister would have enough authority to justify resuming official contacts.
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