Sharon vows to expand raid

Nearly 200 tanks and armoured vehicles have seized 9 square km of the northern strip and pushed deep into teeming Jabalya refugee camp, a militant hotbed.

Sharon told Army Radio the Army would expand the 8216;8216;buffer zone8217;8217; in northern Gaza to spare Israeli towns from rocket attacks and ensure there was no withdrawal under fire next year.

8216;8216;Evacuating the Gaza Strip is a plan that will be carried out and all orders have been given to ensure that there will be no fire at the time of the evacuation and I believe not after that either,8217;8217; Sharon said. Two militants from the Popular Resistance Committees were killed moments after firing Sunday8217;s rocket.

The Army said it hit them as they left with a cart laden with projectiles. Israeli troops killed three militants from Hamas and the kindred Islamic Jihad group early on Sunday. The Army said it opened fire when it saw the men planting a bomb. Another militant was shot dead in Jabalya.

The latest casualties brought the Palestinian death toll to 55, at least 34 of them militants. 8212;Reuters