Israeli forces kill 7 Gaza gunmen in raid

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli tanks and troops backed by helicopter gunships raided the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least seven Palestinian gunmen, militant sources and hospital officials said.

They said Israeli forces operating east of Maghazi refugee camp, a few hundred metres (yards) in from Gaza's boundary fence, exchanged fire with gunmen. Four of the dead were Islamic Jihad militants and three belonged Hamas, the groups said.

Several other Palestinians, including a 7-year-old boy and a Reuters Television sound operator, Nihad Odehtallah, were wounded.

An Israeli military spokesman described the raid as "a routine operation against terrorist threats" and said troops shot at least seven armed Palestinians. One Israeli soldier was severely wounded in the clashes, the army said.

Odehtallah was taken to hospital with a bullet wound to his left thigh and was sent home after treatment.

"The bullet went in and out. There was no fracture or vascular injury," said a doctor at the facility.

Odehtallah said he and other journalists were near an ambulance when gunfire erupted.

"I didn't see who shot me. I couldn't identify who was firing," he said.