Witnesses: Hamas commander in Gaza City hurt in IAF missile strike

The Israel Air Force fired two missiles early Monday at a group of Palestinian militants in Gaza City, witnesses said, as the army's north Gaza operation entered its seventh day.

Residents said the target was apparently a local Hamas commander, who was seriously wounded, along with another man and a woman.

The Israel Defense Forces had no immediate comment.

The attack took place in the Shejaiyeh neighborhood at the eastern edge of Gaza City, straddling the main north-south road through the narrow strip, not far from the border fence with Israel. The neighborhood is known as a stronghold of Islamic militants.

Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the IDF will expand the "buffer zone" in the northern Gaza Strip to spare Israeli towns from rocket attacks and ensure there is no withdrawal under fire next year.

Seven Palestinians were killed in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, bringing the number of Palestinians killed during Operation Days of Penitence to at least 62. In addition, two Palestinians died of wounds sustained during the operation, which is aimed at stopping Palestinians from firing rockets at Israeli towns.

Most of the casualties Sunday were hit by sniper fire and machine gun fire as troops targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists.

"Evacuating the Gaza Strip is a plan that will be carried out and all orders have been given to ensure that there will be no fire at the time of the evacuation and I believe not after that either," Sharon told Army Radio.

The prime minister said Saturday night that Israel would operate in north Gaza until all Palestinian rocket fire against Israeli towns is halted.

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said Sunday that the army's operation in the Gaza Strip is a success and will continue until the southern Israeli town of Sderot is no longer under a constant threat from Qassam rockets.

"Altogether, this operation is successful," Ya'alon told reporters in Gaza. "But we will continue this operation as long as we need. The troops are ready to continue, not in terms of days, but weeks."

Ya'alon said the IDF has already hit seven terror cells responsible for firing the rockets.

Military sources said Sunday that there has been a significant reduction in the level of opposition from Palestinians against the Israeli troops in the last day.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel on Sunday to halt the raid, saying many Palestinian civilians had been killed. He also called on Palestinian leaders to stop the rockets.

Seven Palestinians killed, 30 hurtSeven Palestinians were reportedly killed and some 30 injured on Sunday in the northern Gaza Strip.

Troops were surrounding the Jabalya refugee camp and the village of Beit Hanun on Sunday in the wide-scale raid to end Qassam rocket launchings into Israeli territory. Other troops have surrounded the town of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Among the Palestinians killed Sunday were three Hamas militants who died when an Israel Air Force helicopter fired missiles in northern Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp.

The men had just fired a Qassam rocket that landed outside the western Negev town of Sderot, causing no casualties or damage. They were attempting to flee on a donkey cart.

The dead men were identified as Loui Hamad, 20, and brothers Fadi Na'ami, 19, and Bassam Na'ami, 21.

Earlier Sunday, IDF troops killed Islamic Jihad militants Rami Maqdad and Massbah a-Ranitssi, as well as a third armed man, Rani Akram, who were planting explosive devices in Jabalya. Sixteen-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Shrafi, nephew of local Hamas commander Tawfiq Shrafi, who was killed a few days ago, was also killed.

Also Sunday, two Palestinians died of injuries sustained during the IDF's operation in the Strip. They were identified as Hamas member Yasser A'bayed, 20, and Ra'ad Abu Wadi, a 36-year-old disabled man from the Tel A-Zatar neighborhood in east Jabalya.

Two IDF soldiers have been killed and eight injured since the operation began. In total, five Israelis have been killed in Gaza and the western Negev town of Sderot since the operation began.

Palestinians fired seven mortar shells earlier Sunday morning at Israeli settlements in southern Gaza's Gush Katif area. There were no casualties.

The IDF announced on Sunday that six of its armored vehicles have been damaged in the operation in Jabalya, including a bulldozer that drove over a land mine.

Arab League to ask UN to interveneThe 22-member Arab League agreed on Sunday to ask the UN General Assembly to discuss the Gaza operation, referring to it as "the grave Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people."

The Arab League also suggested a special meeting of the UN Security Council.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting, Arab League representatives called on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to prepare a report on the Israeli "crimes" against the Palestinian people and asked governments and relief agencies to send humanitarian aid.

Several Arab countries and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council have condemned the Israeli offensive. The GCC on Sunday called it "organized state terrorism."

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the attacks were "in violation of international laws and the Geneva agreements."

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on both sides to halt the fighting. He "reminds both sides ... they have a legal obligation to protect all civilians," a spokesman said Sunday.

	IDF tanks rolling out of the Gaza Strip towards a temporary base opposite the Jabalya refugee camp on Sunday. (Reuters)