Israel Kills Hamas Militant Blamed for Deadly Rocket Attack

Israeli soldiers Saturday shot and killed a Hamas militant who the military said was responsible for a rocket attack that killed two Israeli preschoolers last month and triggered an army offensive in northern Gaza.

Abed Nabhan, 25, was one of five Palestinians killed Saturday in the continuing Israeli operation in northern Gaza.

Nabhan, a Hamas field commander, was killed when Israeli troops shot at militants preparing to fire an antitank missile from the Jabaliya refugee camp, the military said.

The Israeli army launched the incursion into northern Gaza after the deadly rocket attack on the Israeli border town of Sderot on Sept. 29. It is the largest since Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out four years ago. About 2,000 troops and hundreds of army vehicles have taken control of a five-mile strip of northern Gaza in an effort to force militants out of rocket range of Israeli towns.

The army said Nabhan was responsible for the Sderot attack as well as a Sept. 30 attack on an army post in northern Gaza that killed an Israeli soldier and wounded two others.

Nabhan and three other Hamas gunmen were preparing to fire an antitank missile Saturday at Israeli troops in Jabaliya when the army shot first, setting off an explosion that killed Nabhan and wounded the other gunmen, Israeli officials said.

Saturday night, an explosion rocked a five-story house near Jabaliya, killing two people, hospital officials said. The Israeli army said the house was hit by an errant antitank missile fired by militants. Residents said the explosion was caused by two tank shells fired by the Israeli military.

Tanks began moving near the area late Friday and militants were active in the neighborhood, residents said.

Witnesses said the explosion hit the former home of Mahmoud Salem, one of the suicide attackers responsible for the double bombing at the Israeli port of Ashdod in March that killed 10.

Earlier Saturday, a lengthy gun battle erupted between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops outside the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing two Palestinians, medical officials said.

The gunfight broke out when Israeli troops tried to move to the east side of the town and Palestinians tried to stop them, residents said.

Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile Saturday morning at a group of Palestinians in the town of Khan Yunis, killing two Palestinian security officers who were armed and wearing civilian clothing, hospital and security officials said.

The deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed to 94 since Israel began its offensive in northern Gaza. Nearly half of those killed were civilians; 18 were age 16 and younger.