Israeli Raid on Camp in Gaza Kills 9 Palestinians

JERUSALEM — Nine Palestinians were killed as a daylong Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip ended this morning -- the most severe outbreak of violence there in more than two months.

Palestinian hospital officials said about 45 people -- including 10 children -- were wounded during a raid that Israel said was aimed at finding arms-smuggling tunnels in Rafah, a crowded Palestinian refugee camp hugging the Egyptian border.

The refugee camp, home to 90,000 people, has been the site of frequent raids by the Israelis, who say the border is crisscrossed by smuggling tunnels. In October, more than a dozen Palestinians died and 120 others were wounded during a military operation that lasted two weeks and left dozens of houses demolished.

Israeli officials say the tunnels help replenish the supply of guns and explosives for use in attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

“The tunnels are life support -- the oxygen -- of the terrorist organizations in Gaza,” said Capt. Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. “It is the only way they can get more. Period.”

Dallal said Israeli intelligence suggests that the tunnels -- once employed to smuggle drugs and other contraband -- are being used to acquire an increasingly sophisticated arsenal, including rocket-propelled grenades and missiles that could be used to shoot down aircraft.

During Tuesday’s operation, Israeli officials said, soldiers found a tunnel leading into a three-story apartment building on the Gaza side. Officials said more than 40 such passages have been located in Rafah so far this year.

The early-morning raid in Rafah came hours after two Israeli soldiers were slain Monday night in a grenade attack in central Gaza. The soldiers were investigating reports of an armed suspect along the main road leading to Gush Katif, a bloc of Jewish settlements and frequent target of Palestinian mortar attacks. The armed man tossed a grenade, killing Capt. Haggai Bibi and Lt. Leonardo Weissman, according to the Israeli military.

The attacker died in a shootout with other soldiers. A subsequent search turned up the body of a second man, lying next to an automatic rifle, Israeli officials said.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. The slain Israeli soldiers were the first to be killed by hostile fire since Nov. 18.

Monday’s clash was the latest example of what Israeli officials describe as a wave of violence against Israeli settlers and soldiers in Gaza during the past month.

The raid in Rafah was launched soon after the killing of the soldiers. As Israeli troops and tanks moved through the streets in the darkness, witnesses said, Palestinian residents fled their homes.

Israeli army officials said troops opened fire on fighters who had planted bombs or were in the process of doing so. Several others were shot while throwing grenades or brandishing weapons, they said.

But Palestinians said civilians were swept up in the fighting, which took place in close quarters. Palestinian Authority Health Minister Jawad Tibi accused the Israelis of firing randomly among unarmed residents, labeling the operation “a very dangerous escalation.”

One witness, Mohammed Jammal, said residents in some cases broke down back walls to escape from their homes amid the fighting. “They could not wave a white flag and leave safely,” he said. As Israeli troops withdrew this morning, witnesses said at least 15 buildings had been destroyed.

In a separate development, Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah announced that they had arrested 22 members of the Hamas group who allegedly were responsible for attacks that had killed 10 Israelis. The military said the men were planning to ambush and decapitate Israeli soldiers and then seek the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the heads, according to Israeli media reports. Israel has previously negotiated with militants for the return of the bodies, and even body parts, of its fallen soldiers.

Elsewhere Tuesday, Israeli troops searched for a gunman who fired on an Israeli passenger car north of Eilat. No one was hurt.

A tourist was killed and four others were injured near Eilat last month when a gunman opened fire at the international border crossing from Jordan.