- Title: GAZA: Israel kills 14 Palestinians in fightin across the Gaza Strip
- Date: 27th July 2006
- Summary: (BN06) GAZA CITY, GAZA (JULY 26, 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOUNDED ON STRETCHER BEING WHEELED INTO THE HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF BODIES IN MORGUE
- Embargoed: 11th August 2006 13:00
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- Reuters ID: LVADJQT551H3DREMBPE0T1WA6PQ5
- Story Text: Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians, including nine militants and a three-year-old girl, in fighting across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday (July 26), medics and witnesses said.
Israel has stepped up air strikes and launched raids into Gaza to stop rocket attacks and recover a soldier captured by militants on June 25. The army has killed 135 Palestinians since it began its assault. About half were civilians.
Wednesday's death toll in Gaza was the highest in two weeks. Among those killed were seven loyalists of the governing Hamas militant group and one gunman from the kindred Islamic Jihad faction, which is also dedicated to destroying Israel.
Another gunman was killed later, but it was not clear which group he was from.
Medics said a three-year-old and four others were killed, including one civilian. At least 50 people were wounded, including a cameraman for Palestinian television. Six of the wounded were in a critical condition, medics said.
Israeli troops have pursued the offensive in Gaza while fighting on a second front in Lebanon following the capture of two soldiers by Hizbollah guerrillas in a July 12 raid, but have failed to stop rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel.
Israel's army, which abandoned Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation, said it had carried out strikes against gunmen.
At least 30 tanks and other armoured vehicles pushed more than 2 km (1.2 miles) into the northern Gaza Strip overnight. The troops clashed with militants on the edge of Jabalya, a stronghold of Hamas, through the day.
Buzzing overhead, unmanned drone aircraft fired missiles at militants on the streets, Palestinian witnesses said.
Israel also bombed offices used by a Hamas-led force in Gaza City on Wednesday. The army has destroyed several offices of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which accuses Israel of trying to bring down its elected administration.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected demands by militants to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, but said he might consider it later to help Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate.
The offensive has put pressure on Hamas, which was already struggling under a crippling U.S.-led aid embargo, designed to pressure the group to recognise Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace deals. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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