Fierce Fighting in Gaza Kills 8 Palestinians, 6 Israeli Troops

Ferocious fighting on the outskirts of Gaza City on Tuesday killed at least eight Palestinians and six Israeli soldiers -- the deadliest incident in the Gaza Strip for troops in the more than 3 1/2-year conflict.

The deaths of the soldiers, whose armored vehicle ran over a bomb during a raid against suspected weapons makers in the Zeitoun neighborhood, shook Israel as it was already agonizing over whether to withdraw Jewish settlers and their military defenders from the coastal strip.

The Israeli toll from Tuesday’s violence -- plus televised footage showing Palestinian militants posing with what they said were the soldiers’ body parts -- stirred especially powerful emotions across the Jewish nation.

The incident was expected to intensify debate over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal to pull out of Gaza, rejected in a May 2 vote by members of his Likud Party. Sharon plans to seek government approval for a new proposal, although officials say it will probably differ little from the original, which called for abandoning all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank.

“Today we received a painful reminder about the heavy price we pay in the struggle to defend our country and our citizens’ security,” Sharon said in remarks before parliament. He called a meeting of his top Cabinet ministers to discuss a possible military response.

The televised footage showed a masked militant holding a black bag purportedly containing pieces of flesh. The Arabic-language satellite channel Al Jazeera aired a videotape -- reportedly provided by Islamic Jihad, one of the groups claiming responsibility for the blast -- that showed two masked gunmen posing with what they said was a human head. Al Jazeera blurred the image for what it called religious reasons.

The images drew outrage from Israeli officials.

“We will hold accountable those people who are doing this despicable thing,” said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman. “We view that very seriously.”

Supporters of evacuating the Gaza Strip cited the soldiers’ deaths as proof that it was time for Israel to exit an area it would probably relinquish as part of any final peace agreement with the Palestinians. Gaza is home to 7,500 Jewish settlers and 1.3 million Palestinians.

“We should know one thing: We have nothing to do there,” said Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister who is a Labor member of parliament. “I just hope that all those who rejected the prime minister’s plan understand the price we are paying.”

Withdrawal opponents, however, seized upon the fatal ambush as a sign that Israel’s battle against terrorism in Gaza is unfinished.

Housing Minister Effi Eitam, a vocal critic of the Sharon proposal, said, “The less our presence will be there, the more difficult it will be for us to make sure the place isn’t becoming a kingdom of terror.”

The raid drew denunciations from Palestinian Authority leaders, who accused Israel of stirring up trouble. More than 100 Palestinians were reported wounded as the fighting continued into the evening.

“Israel does not want calm,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Korei told reporters. “Every time we try to restore peace, they strike back with military actions.”

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was reinforcing the barricades around his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Sharon has said he no longer feels obliged to honor a prior commitment to President Bush not to harm Arafat, whom Israeli officials hold responsible for attacks on their people.

Amid the renewed violence, Palestinian officials said Tuesday that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell would meet this weekend with Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath.

The ambush occurred on the southeastern fringe of Gaza City as Israeli troops hunted for small-scale factories used to manufacture crude rockets, mortars and antitank weapons. During the raid, troops found 32 welding machines that the Israelis said were used in making weapons, a military spokeswoman said.

The Zeitoun neighborhood is known as a stronghold of Palestinian militancy and has seen previous clashes. On Tuesday, scores of Palestinian fighters poured into the area, firing automatic rifles, antitank rockets and setting off bombs against the Israeli forces.

Israeli officials said militants ignited three bombs. One of those blew up the personnel carrier in which the six soldiers were riding.

After the blasts, Israel sent in hundreds more troops and closed roads, in effect dividing Gaza into three enclaves.

Fighters from the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for setting off bombs against Israeli forces.

The fatal explosion was unusually large because the armored vehicle was carrying explosives. The force of the blast scattered human remains over a large area of the densely settled neighborhood, military officials said, and the fighting hampered efforts to gather them.

Militants from Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade said they had seized fragments of the soldiers’ bodies and would return them under unspecified conditions. The Jewish faith calls for bodies to be as intact as possible for burial. In the past, Israel has freed Arab prisoners in exchange for even partial remains.

After the clash, Sharon set aside appointments to map out a response with his security Cabinet. Officials made no decisions, other than to continue searching for the soldiers’ remains, and would not negotiate with the militants.

Even before the ministers met Tuesday evening, Israeli helicopter gunships were already aloft over the Gaza Strip. A missile hit a car in a neighborhood north of Zeitoun in the afternoon, wounding its two occupants. The strike killed a 15-year-old Palestinian bystander and wounded five other people, according to hospital staff.

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Ellingwood reported from Jerusalem and Abu Shammalah from Gaza City. Times staff writer Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.