2 Palestinians die in Israeli raid on Gaza

Israeli soldiers backed by tanks launched a raid into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and two Palestinians were killed in a fierce gunbattle, medics said.

The raid occurred hours after two Israeli army officers were killed in an ambush in central Gaza, the first Israeli deaths in fighting in the occupied territories in a month.

Palestinian witnesses said at least 40 tanks were at the entrance to a refugee camp in the Rafah area before dawn on Tuesday and that several had entered the camp, drawing gunfire from militants.

'Continuous fight'
In the fighting, soldiers shot dead a 50-year-old man in the camp and critically wounded two gunmen, one of whom died later from his injuries, Palestinian medics said.

An Israeli military source said the soldiers entered Rafah “as part of a continuous fight” to find and destroy a series of smuggling tunnels through which explosives were brought in from neighouring Egypt.

The source said the soldiers were engaging gunmen in exchanges of fire, but had no comment on casualties.