Strike, clashes kill 6 in Gaza

Israel launched an airstrike on the Gaza Strip early today after its troops clashed with Hamas militants who fired mortar rounds into Israel. Six Palestinians were killed.

It was the first battle since a June truce mostly quieted violence in the volatile territory.

The Israeli army said the clashes erupted late Tuesday after its forces uncovered a tunnel in central Gaza that militants planned to use to capture Israeli soldiers. It said a special army unit headed to the area to destroy the tunnel and a Palestinian was killed in a gun battle.

Hamas then fired mortar rounds across the Gaza border into southern Israel, and Israel answered with the strike early today, killing five suspected Palestinian militants, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.