Israeli helicopters fired missiles into Gaza City killing three Palestinians, in reprisals for the killing of six Israeli soldiers yesterday.
Palestinian militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, gather near the home of a militant killed in the fighting, in anticipation of his body being brought home, in Gaza City.
Troops today blasted their way into buildings in search of the remains of the soldiers after Palestinian groups said the y would not hand over the corpses.
Witnesses said a missile that struck near a mosque in the teeming Zeitoun district had torn apart three people wounded 13 civilians. The Israeli army said it had targeted militants laying explosives.
Another missile struck a house from which militants were shooting at soldiers. Six people were reported wounded.
Helicopters also raked narrow streets with machine-gun rounds as gunmen harried troops scouring Zeitoun for the remains - flung in all directions after a troop carrier ran over a mine during an army incursion.
Soldiers shot dead another militant when they spotted him about to fire a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, according to Israeli military sources.
Militant leaders said they had taken the soldiers' remains away from Zeitoun to use as bargaining chips for demands that Israel stop raiding the Gaza Strip and free jailed Palestinians.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government reiterated that it would not negotiate for the recovery of the remains, and that armoured forces would remain in Zeitoun, a hotbed of Islamist militants, until their job was done.
Agencies