Israel Raids Refugee Camp in Gaza; Palestinian Man Is Killed

Israeli tanks and helicopters raided this southern Gaza Strip refugee camp Wednesday, destroying buildings in an incursion that shook a fragile Israeli-Palestinian security plan seen as a test for a truce.

A Palestinian man was killed when a house collapsed on him during the raid as the tanks, backed by the helicopters, rolled into the camp before dawn.

Under the security plan sealed Sunday, Israel agreed to ease military restrictions on civilian movement in Gaza and the West Bank city of Bethlehem if Palestinian police reduced “terror and violence” by militants. Troops pulled out of Bethlehem on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s incursion came a day after an Israeli soldier guarding a nearby Jewish settlement was shot and killed by the Islamic group Hamas.

Palestinian residents said Israeli soldiers in tanks entered the camp and shouted with megaphones for residents to leave. Helicopters circled overhead and the tanks fired machine guns, they said.

“There were two helicopters in the sky. They started firing their machine guns on houses, in the streets, and sliced through the electricity wires. The whole refugee camp was thrown into darkness,” resident Salim abu Amouna said.

An army statement said troops destroyed two empty buildings that served as shooting posts and shelter to terrorists.