Four Palestinians including three Civilians killed in Gaza raid

Source: Reuters, 6-1-2008
GAZA - "Israeli" troops killed four Palestinians in a raid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Sunday, witnesses said, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to step up attacks on militants who fire rockets into "Israel".
Palestinian hospital officials said three of the dead in the al-Bureij refugee camp were civilians - a woman, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old youth. The fourth was a Hamas gunman killed in battle with the "Israelis", the Islamist faction said.
Militants fired an anti-tank rocket, wounding five "Israeli" soldiers, during the raid which raised tension ahead of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to "Israel" and the occupied West Bank starting on Wednesday.
The fighting, which ended when "Israeli" forces withdrew at nightfall, also wounded at least 34 Palestinians, including four women, seven children and 15 gunmen.
Olmert told his cabinet that War Minister Ehud Barak had ordered security forces "to escalate "Israel's" actions" in coastal Gaza after a rocket fired by militants last week reached an unprecedented distance, hitting the "Israeli" city of Ashkelon.
"Israeli" ground forces moved into al-Bureij at dawn, according to military and Palestinian officials. Palestinian hospital staff said the 18-year-old and the other youth were shot dead. The woman died when a tank shell hit the house she was in. Another tank shell killed the gunman.
An "Israeli" military spokeswoman said troops shot several gunmen. She had no immediate word on the civilian casualties.
"Israel" has stepped up attacks against militants in Gaza to try to curb cross-border rocket salvoes from the territory.
Earlier this week, "Israeli" troops raided the West Bank city of Nablus, conducting house-to-house searches and detaining at least 6 Palestinians. The raids triggered clashes with stone- throwing youths that injured at least 29 people.
The "Israeli" army said the rocket that hit Ashkelon on Thursday, causing no damage or casualties, travelled 17 km (11 miles), further than any previously launched from Gaza.
The longer-range rocket marked an "escalation" in Palestinian attacks, Olmert said.
He said "Israeli" military operations had already yielded "very significant results" in