June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli soldiers shot dead seven Palestinians in clashes, and an air strike destroyed two rocket launchers after southern Israel was hit by unguided Qassams for the first time since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip.
The gun battles in the West Bank and Gaza, the rocket attacks and the air strike marked the first extensive Israeli- Palestinian fighting since the Islamic Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza last week. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Fatah movement, retains control of the West Bank along with an emergency government he named this week.
Five Palestinian militants died in fighting in central Gaza near Israel's Kissufim crossing, doctors at Nasser Hospital in the Gaza town of Khan Yunis, said in phone interviews. Hamas said in a leaflet that its gunmen, who accounted for three of those killed, fought the soldiers with grenades.
The clashes in Gaza began after Israeli forces crossed the border fence in an operation aimed at clearing out Palestinian fighters and destroying weapons-smuggling tunnels and other infrastructure, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman, speaking anonymously, said in a phone interview. The forces penetrated a few hundred meters into Gaza, he said.
The Israeli air strike on northern Gaza destroyed two rocket launchers in an open field and didn't cause injury, a Palestinian security official said on condition of anonymity. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the strike came after Palestinians fired rockets at southern Israel.
Palestinian militants have fired more than 300 Qassams at Israel since mid-May, although the barrage briefly stopped after Hamas wrested control of Gaza.
West Bank Raid
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers on an arrest raid encountered heavy fire during which they killed two armed Palestinians, the army spokesman said.
Abbas dismissed Prime Minister Ismael Hania's cabinet last week, a move Hania and his Hamas movement rejected, leaving two competing governments in the Palestinian Authority.
U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged support yesterday for Abbas's government and said they will pursue efforts to revive peace talks. The U.S. and European Union, which consider Hamas a terrorist organization, have said they will resume aid to Abbas's government while continuing sanctions on Hamas.
`Humanitarian Cases'
Dozens of civilians fleeing Hamas have been waiting near the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip to travel through Israel to the West Bank. Yesterday, Israeli tanks moved there after Palestinian gunmen attacked Erez, killing one of the civilians.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak today instructed the army to allow ``urgent humanitarian cases'' waiting on the Palestinian side of the crossing to enter Israel for medical treatment, his office said in a statement read over the telephone by a spokeswoman.
About 100 foreigners with Ukrainian and Russian passports crossed into Israel at the Erez checkpoint today along with four Palestinians, three of them wounded and one with leukemia, an army spokesman said. Trucks carrying medical and basic food supplies were allowed to enter Gaza, and Israel also sent food and water to the Palestinians waiting at the border.
The United Nations World Food Program said nine trucks carrying 225 metric tons (250 tons) were scheduled to cross the border today, bringing to 425 tons the amount of food delivered in the past two days. Shortages had caused the price of wheat flour to rise 40 percent in the past two days, the UN said in an e-mailed statement.
Israel's National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben- Eliezer said Israeli suppliers will continue to sell gasoline, water and power to the Gaza Strip.
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