MIDDLE EAST:In its deepest raid into Gaza in six months, the Israeli military yesterday killed 13 Palestinians, three of them civilians, as the army turned up the pressure on Hamas, which seized control of the coastal strip earlier this month.
Most of the dead in the two raids - one in Gaza city and the other in the southern town of Khan Younis - were militants. But three civilians were also killed, including a nine-year-old boy who died when an Israeli tank shell hit a home in Gaza city.
The foray into Gaza came as the quartet of Middle East mediators - the US, EU, UN and Russia - were preparing to name Tony Blair, who stood down yesterday as British prime minister, to the post of special peace envoy to the region. Addressing parliament, Mr Blair said the "absolute priority is to try to give effect to what is now the consensus across the international community - that the only way of bringing stability and peace to the Middle East is a two-state solution."
Since Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza, Israel has adopted a policy of isolating the Islamic group in Gaza while trying to reward the more moderate Fatah faction headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and which controls the West Bank.
Earlier this week, at a summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert announced he was planning to release 250 Fatah prisoners from Israeli jails - a move aimed at boosting Mr Abbas.
Israeli military sources said the purpose of the raid yesterday was to create a one-kilometre wide security strip inside the Gaza border fence and that troops were clearing the area of tunnels and explosive devices.
Two Israeli soldiers were injured in the raid, as Palestinian militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles at the Israeli forces. Militants also fired six rockets into Israel yesterday, after the troops moved in to Gaza.
Hamas officials said they expected the raid to be the start of a harsh Israeli operation in Gaza, and they accused Mr Abbas of collaborating with Israel.
Fawzi Barhaum, a Hamas spokesman, said Israel's actions were part of a "conspiracy in which Abbas is a participant and which is aimed at pressuring Hamas and the people of Gaza".
Mr Abbas condemned the Israeli operation as well as the rocket fire into Israel. "We strongly condemn these criminal acts, either in Gaza or the West Bank.
"We are against violence in all its forms and we are also against launching rockets."