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Nine Palestinians Die in Gaza Fighting

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 January 2004, 06:00 CST

Nine Palestinians were killed Wednesday in fierce fighting with Israeli troops in Gaza City, a Palestinian hospital official said.

The fighting apparently erupted when the army launched an operation near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, in the heart of the teeming Gaza Strip.

Palestinian militants fired anti-tank missiles and set off an explosive at the troops who fired back, the army said. Two Palestinians were killed in the incident, said Dr. Moawia Hassan, a chief Palestinian hospital official.

Later, the army entered a Gaza City neighborhood near Netzarim, and a fierce battle flared between troops and gunmen.

Seven other Palestinians have been killed in that fighting, and several others were wounded, Dr. Hassan said.

Gunmen, some of them hefting rocket launchers over their shoulders, ran past ambulance crews treating the wounded at the scene of the fighting. A group of boys took cover behind a tin shack as gunfire crackled down a street.

As two Israeli tanks rumbled slowly along another road, a rocket propelled grenade whizzed just a few yards in front of the two vehicles, leaving a streak of white smoke. The tanks swiveled their barrels and fired machine guns.

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