5 more killed in Gaza raid

Israeli aircraft and tanks killed five Palestinians, including a teenager, in sporadic clashes across northern Gaza on Friday...

Israeli aircraft and tanks killed five Palestinians, including a teenager, in sporadic clashes across northern Gaza on Friday, following the bloodiest day of fighting with gunmen since 2004. 20 Palestinians were killed as the Army pushed deep into northern Gaza on Thursday, taking over ruined Jewish settlements of Dugit, Elei Sinai and Nissanit, razed last year as part of Israel8217;s pullout from Gaza that was meant to draw the curtain on a 38-year occupation.

The latest offensive came in response to a makeshift missile on Tuesday striking the Israeli city of Ashkelon, 12 km from Gaza. It was the furthest point reached by a Palestinian missile and the first time an Israeli city had come under fire, and no casualties were reported. The incursion expanded a week-old offensive aimed at bringing home captured Corporal Shalit.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas charged the offensive had unleashed 8216;8216;new crimes against humanity8217;8217;, in comments carried by the official WAFA news agency. Aid groups have expressed concern about the difficulties of providing assistance to 1.4 million people in impoverished Gaza following months of financial crisis and the suspension of direct Western aid to the government.

8216;8216;Public institutions and non-government organizations working in the West Bank and Gaza are struggling to provide water, sanitation, food, health and social assistance in the Gaza Strip,8217;8217; CARE International warned.

In New York, experts from the 15-member Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss a draft, presented by Qatar on behalf of the UN8217;s Arab Group, that calls on Israel as the occupying power to abide by its obligations under the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in time of war. But the United States, Israel8217;s closest ally, described the text as 8216;8216;unbalanced8217;8217; because it did not mention the Palestinian rocket attacks and the capture of the Israeli soldier.

Israel has detained more than a third of the cabinet and hinted it could assassinate Hamas leaders if Shalit is killed. A poll in the Maariv daily on Friday showed 82 percent of Israelis saying the Jewish state should kill Hamas leaders in response to the crisis in Gaza.