Israeli forces end raid on Gaza refugee camp

Israeli tanks and troops began to withdraw from a Gaza refugee camp early Friday after a raid over two days that left at least 15 people dead.

The Israeli military said the incursion into the Gaza Strip has ended but Israeli forces would continue to maintain a presence in the area.

Its military operations there are part of an offensive against Palestinian militants that began June 25 after two Israeli soldiers were killed and one captured in a raid on a military outpost. The Israeli military saidits operations would continue for some time.

Israel has been shelling targets in Lebanon and battling guerrillas just inside the Lebanese border as part of offensive against the Lebanese-based military group Hezbollah. That offensive entered its 10th day on Friday. Hezbollah, for its part, has been firing rockets on northern Israeli cities and towns.

Much world attention has been paid to the Hezbollah offensive, but the Gaza offensive has not gone unnoticed.

The raid on the refugee camp included the killing of four Palestinians in a house owned by Hamas activist Mohammed Harara. An Israeli tank shell hit the house. The Israeli military said the shell was aimed at two men on the roof of the house because they were about to fire an anti-tank weapon at Israeli troops.

Farmland destroyed

The dead in that incident were Harara, his mother Sabah and his two brothers. A funeral was held for the four family members on Friday. The house is near a cargo crossing between Israel and Gaza. Tanks and troops have used the area near the crossing as a base duringthe Gaza offensive.

During the raid on the refugee camp, which is home for 22,000 people, Israeli forces dug up water pipes, brought down electricity wires and destroyed farmland, leaving destruction in their wake.

Israeli forces detained 15 people during the raid for questioning but released them before theybegan to withdrawfrom the camp.

On the first day of the raid, nine people were killed, while on the second, five people were killed. All were Palestinians.

On Thursday, the Israeli army distributed leaflets in Gaza City that warned residents that it would attack homes believed to be storing weapons for Palestinian militants.

'Dangerous consequences'

The leaflets, in Arabic, said: "Anyone who has, or is keeping an arsenal, ammunitions or weapons in their house must destroy them, or they will face dangerous consequences."

On Friday, the Israeli army battled with Palestinians in the city of Nablus on the West Bank and blew up a part of a Palestinian compound. The army said militants were in the building.

About 4,000 Palestinians in Nablus marched in the streets to show their support of Hezbollah. They demanded that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah launch more rocket attacks on Israel.

According to the Associated Press, the Palestinians said: "Nasrallah, our dearest, strike, strike Tel Aviv."