12 Palestinian Arabs Die During Israeli Sweep of Gaza

JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers swept into the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 12 Palestinians in the heaviest fighting since Hamas seized control of the territory early this month, the Israeli military said.

In raids involving helicopters and ground forces, the troops attacked around Gaza City and near the southern town of Khan Yunis. The actions, which included searches for tunnels and explosives, were a further sign that Israel intends to isolate and weaken the militant Hamas movement while negotiating with the Palestinian Authority's president, Mahmoud Abbas, and his more moderate Fatah Party.

The Israeli military said Palestinian Arab gunmen were killed after Israeli troops were attacked by six or seven anti-tank missiles near Khan Yunis. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded. At least eight of those killed in the day's operations belonged to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which frequently clash with Israeli forces along the Gaza-Israel border.

Palestinian Arab officials said Raed Fanuna, a senior member of Islamic Jihad, was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit his car in east Gaza City, where at least seven other Palestinian Arabs died in various attacks. The Israeli military denied the aerial attack. Palestinian Arab medics said a 12-year-old boy and three others were killed when an Israeli tank shell struck a house in Gaza City.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called the military offensive part of a "conspiracy in which Abbas is a participant and which is aimed at pressuring Hamas and the people of Gaza." A video on Hamas TV accused Mr. Abbas of collaborating with the Israelis. The footage purportedly shows the Palestinian Arab president telling his security officials during a meeting that they should kill Palestinian Arab militants firing rockets into Israel.

In a news conference yesterday, Mr. Abbas said of the Israeli attacks: "We strongly condemn these criminal acts committed against our people in Gaza and the West Bank. We are against the violence, but at the same time we are against the useless missiles" fired from Gaza into Israel.