Agence France Presse

Gaza City, January 28

Eight Palestinians were killed today during an incursion by the Israeli army in the southern outskirts of Gaza City, Palestinian hospital sources said.

The eight were shot dead in the al-Zeitun suburb where armoured vehicles and bulldozers had staged a rare incursion, according to the hospital sources and witnesses. An army spokesman said the troops had been taking part in an operation to find cells of Palestinian militants who had been responsible for attacks on the nearby settlement of Netzarim.

During the operation, Palestinians had launched anti-tank missiles, explosive device and mortars at the Israelis, the spokesman added. "The soldiers saw about five to ten gunmen approach them," he said. "The force opened fire at them. A few of them were hit." The latest deaths bring the overall toll since the start of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000 to 3,716.