Palestinian militants blew up an Israeli military vehicle in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing several soldiers during a raid in which troops shot dead four Palestinians, witnesses said. Six soldiers were killed in the blast, Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV said, in violence in the coastal territory that has intensified since Israeli PM Ariel Sharon’s Right-wing Likud party voted against his Gaza pullout plan on May 2.Palestinian witnesses said they saw the armoured personnel carrier torn apart by an explosion as troops backed by tanks and helicopters raided the Zeitoun area of Gaza City.Hamas said its fighters ambushed the vehicle near the Netzarim settlement, stopping it with an anti-tank missile at a spot where they had previously planted bombs.But the Army declined comment except to say that key details remained under censorship. The Army said it struck at the ‘‘terrorist infrastructure’’ in Gaza behind a series of attacks, including the killing of a settler and her four daughters on May 2. Israeli troops fought fierce gunbattles against militants in Zeitoun as families cowered in their homes. Four Palestinians, at least two of them gunmen, were killed in the raid and at least 60 people were wounded, witnesses said. —(Reuters)
