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A boy looking at the damage caused by a Qasssam to a building in Sderot on Saturday. (David Boimovitch / Jini)
Last update - 22:56 06/01/2008
Five IDF soldiers wounded, five Palestinians killed in Gaza fighting
By Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff ,Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
Tags: Palestinians, Gaza, Israel 

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded Sunday, one of them moderately, and five Palestinians killed in series of incidents in the Gaza Strip.

The fighting, which ended when the IDF withdrew at nightfall, also wounded at least 34 Palestinians, including four women, seven children and 15 gunmen.

The soldiers were hurt by anti-tank missiles fired by militants in two separate incidents during an operation in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
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In the first incident, one soldier was moderately wounded and two others lightly hurt by shrapnel. A short time later, a second missile hit the troops, lightly wounding two soldiers.

All five of the soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.

Later, two additional troops were lightly hurt by an anti-tank missile in the same area.

On Sunday, a Palestinian civilian was killed as troops battled militants near Bureij, Palestinian officials said. Later, a Palestinian woman was killed when a projectile struck a house.

Earlier in the day, IDF soldiers killed two armed Palestinians who were seen appraoching the troops in a nearby security zone, which is closed to Palestinian movement.

Also Sunday, an Israel Air Force aircraft targeted a rocket launch site in northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun, killing one of two armed men spotted there, the IDF said.

Palestinian officials identified the dead man as a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, a militant group allied with Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers.

The PRC is allied to Hamas and claimed responsibility for firing 26 mortar shells and seven Qassam rockets into Israel on Saturday.

Palestinian officials identified the dead man as PRC member Mohammed Abu Uda.

IDF infantry and armored corps troops entered the Bureij camp early Sunday morning, penetrating some 1.5-2 kilometers into Palestinian territory.

The army said the operation was routine, adding that such raids are carried out on a near daily basis in order to distance militants from the security fence with southern Israel.

Prior to Sunday's operation, roughly 30 Palestinians had been killed in IDF operations in the Gaza Strip since last week, all but two of them militants. The two civilians, both women, were killed when an IDF tank fired on a house from which militants had directed heavy fire at the IDF soldiers.

A military source said "this figure should not lead us to pat ourselves on the back. Rather more than anything it shows the high motivation of Gaza terrorist groups to carry out attacks, and our operational approach is to thwart [the attacks] well before they reach the fences."

"If it were not for these operations," he continued, "and if the terrorists were able to take position adjacent to the fence, this would also alter the range of the Qassam rockets, which would strike deeper in Israeli territory."

The fighting comes a day after Palestinian militants fired a barrage of seven Qassam rockets at the western Negev town of Sderot. Six of the rockets struck open fields in the western Negev, while one damaged several homes and cars in Sderot. Two people were taken to hospital after the attack.

Meanwhile, a Hamas man was killed late Saturday by IDF fire in Beit Hanun, and three others wounded. The IDF said ground troops targeted and hit two armed men but gave no additional details.

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  • Editorial: Unmilitary force
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      1.   The children are the victims 08:58  |  V 06/01/08
      2.   #1 V, It isn`t just the children .. 11:27  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      3.   All the sides have some rights 12:46  |  V 06/01/08
      4.   WE ARE MURDERING IN G-DS NAME! 15:06  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 06/01/08
      5.   G-d`s Chosen Terrorists 15:33  |  POP 06/01/08
      6.   no dead in Nablus? 16:10  |  Skeptic 06/01/08
      7.   #5 Pop, That`s the long and short of it all 16:12  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      8.   End the vile siege,you rotters! 16:50  |  lakshmi 06/01/08
      9.   Wishing A Speedy Recovery To Our Boys! 17:17  |  Natan 06/01/08
      10.   Palestinian Gaza Army 17:18  |  Al 06/01/08
      11.   Greetings Lakshmi , They are self destructing... 17:20  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      12.   LASKHMI AND ROTTERS 17:27  |  Brant 06/01/08
      13.   Lakshmi,sutee awaits you,hurry! 17:31  |  Absolute Sweden 06/01/08
      14.   Israel must continue as long as a single rocket 17:32  |  TOMY 06/01/08
      15.   Looks like the Palestinians are getting better 17:33  |  Paul Wood 06/01/08
      16.   Nobel Prize Winners Should Help 17:45  |  DoubleClick 06/01/08
      17.   Prayers for the Wounded Israelis 17:57  |  Ron 06/01/08
      18.   #7 DEMENTED DUTCH pretend to be Biblical expert 18:28  |  * BEN JABO 06/01/08
      19.   JEW-HATERS: Do you think that without IDF a single JEW remains... 18:34  |  Vittorio 06/01/08
      20.   18. "ben Jabo of little understanding 18:39  |  scholor 06/01/08
      21.   slowly 18:55  |  sam i am 06/01/08
      22.   My Country is the Next Islamic Republic 18:56  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      23.   dutch #7 18:57  |  Zolman ben Moshe 06/01/08
      24.   I AM A CRAZY MAN 18:58  |  VOICE OF MOSHIACH))) 06/01/08
      25.   # 3 Israel is the beligerent occupier that`s causing the trouble 19:08  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      26.   #19 Vittorio 19:08  |  Paul Wood 06/01/08
      27.   Dutch #22 19:15  |  mrrad 06/01/08
      28.   #7 Dutch 19:26  |  H 06/01/08
      29.   #23 Zolman ben Moshe 19:26  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      30.   # 20 For the one who thinks he is a ScholOr 19:28  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 06/01/08
      31.   #24 ...and so am I, but it`s all the same 19:29  |  christoph 06/01/08
      32.   #22 Is a fake Dutch 19:29  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      33.   #29 Scholor who can`t spell his name 19:32  |  * BEN JABO 06/01/08
      34.   Dutch goes over the top 19:48  |  Stephen Connor 06/01/08
      35.   Darth Zaider the know it all 19:51  |  scholor 06/01/08
      36.   *ben dumbo 19:53  |  scholor 06/01/08
      37.   #23 - Zolman ben Moshe 20:01  |  Adrian de Klerk 06/01/08
      38.   WE ARE KILLING OUR FUTURE BY KILLING THE PALESTINIANS, STEALING 20:04  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 06/01/08
      39.   pals will soon be gone 20:07  |  Adrian de Klerk 06/01/08
      40.   So Abraham made it up then? 20:07  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/01/08
      41.   What shameful double stardards from the IDF 20:09  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      42.   I DON`T KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT 20:13  |  VOICE OF MOSHIACH))) 06/01/08
      43.   #41 Linthwaite 20:15  |  * BEN JABO 06/01/08
      44.   Lakshmi, how does it feel? You muslims will be forced to comply 20:16  |  Johnny 06/01/08
      45.   #38 Is an obvious fraud 20:17  |  *BEN JABO 06/01/08
      46.   VOICE OF NOTHING!!!!! 20:23  |  Stephen Connor 06/01/08
      47.   #24 Voice Of Moshiach, The crazy people are in the IDF 20:27  |  dutch 06/01/08
      48.   Adrian de Klerk 20:28  |  Stephen Connor 06/01/08
      49.   45. *BEN JABBER? you will let us know when `real moshiach` comes? 20:29  |  edge of seat 06/01/08
      50.   #43 Ben Jabo 20:32  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/01/08
      51.   Linthwaite 20:33  |  Stephen Connor 06/01/08
      52.   About being Human 20:37  |  GPS 06/01/08
      53.   # 20 scholor 20:37  |  ChanahS 06/01/08
      54.   46. the difference is steven in USA 20:38  |  Int.Law 06/01/08
      55.   Five 20:41  |  Giora 06/01/08
      56.   #4 Let me guess: Goods? 20:45  |  GPS 06/01/08
      57.   Stephen Connor , A word please 20:46  |  DUtch 06/01/08
      58.   pop 20:47  |  alan 06/01/08
      59.   #53 ChanahS 20:49  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/01/08
      60.   Scholor OR Scholar? Abraham Wasn`t a Jew 20:53  |  Cristo 06/01/08
      61.   GO AHEADS IDF 20:56  |  ANUAR AL SADAT 06/01/08
      62.   i hope you rot lakshmi . . . 20:57  |  hebro 06/01/08
      63.   60. Christo? ranting of a mad man 21:04  |  dr. freud 06/01/08
      64.   The facts are these. Live with them. 21:10  |  Steve 06/01/08
      65.   62. hobo? i wouldn`t depend on it anytime soon 21:11  |  observation 06/01/08
      66.   Won the pool! 21:16  |  Colin Wright 06/01/08
      67.   Use GPS-guided napalm to take out kassam, mortar crews 21:24  |  Dr. L. Brnd 06/01/08
      68.   Stop turtle tactics and bombs away 21:47  |  5 vs. 5 06/01/08
      69.   Political correctness: four women, seven children and 15 gunmen. 21:57  |  Robert 06/01/08
      70.   #46 Stephen Connor, It isn`t business as usual for Israel... 22:28  |  Dutch 06/01/08
      71.