Israel tanks sweep into Beit Hanun, four killed

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

BEIT HANUN, Gaza Strip (AFP) — Three Palestinians were killed as Israeli armor swept back into the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun, pressing on with an offensive to stop rocket attacks and retrieve a missing soldier.

Tanks, armored vehicles and bulldozers rolled into Beit Hanun before dawn Sunday, in the deepest Israeli incursion into the area since Israel began its punishing offensive on June 28 following the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Three Palestinians from the armed wing of the governing Hamas, which claimed joint responsibility for the attack in which Shalit was snatched, were killed when an Israeli aircraft slammed a missile into a group of militants.

A fourth Palestinian was killed by tank shelling in the south.

Another 10 people...