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Gun battles in Gaza



JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Four Palestinians have been wounded in an Israeli raid in Gaza, according to the Palestine Red Crescent.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) says Palestinian gunmen opened fire early on Thursday from a house in Khan Yunes towards the settlement of Ganei Tal and IDF forces returned fire.

Marwan Kanafani, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said: "Every day, they are hitting any town, any city, any suburbs. This is something that's becoming a daily practice of the Israeli army."

On Wednesday Israeli helicopters attacked Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Israeli army launched an air strike on the northern West Bank village of Jenin, sources on both sides said.

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Israeli helicopters also attacked the Palestinian police station at Jabalya in Gaza.

Palestinian security sources said the Jenin attack -- four missiles fired at the offices of the Palestinian Authority -- was unprovoked.

"Every day, they are hitting any town, any city, any suburbs," said Marwan Kanafani, an Arafat adviser. "This is something that's becoming a daily practice of the Israeli army."

But the Israel Defense Forces said its air force helicopters attacked a building where the Palestinian Authority develops and manufactures arms and mortar weapons. A spokesman said the IDF will continue its fight against "Palestinian terror" and will do whatever is necessary to secure the safety of Israeli citizens and soldiers.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said seven people were "lightly injured" in the Jabalya attack. Jabalya is a Palestinian refugee camp.

The Israel Defense Forces said the post was used by the Palestinian Preventative Security Services to launch attacks on Israelis.

Overnight strikes in Gaza

Palestinian security officials also said Israeli troops had entered Palestinian-controlled territory in Gaza with tanks twice overnight into Wednesday.

The IDF said that three mortar bombs had been fired at two areas overnight. It said it had conducted a "pinpoint" strike after a mortar bomb from the village of Dir Al-Balah landed on the roof of an occupied home in the Israeli village of Kfar Darom.

"The army last night seized a Palestinian building that is located north of the settlement due to the immediate security needs to protect the settlers," the IDF statement said. "The army emphasized this is a pinpoint operation aimed at preventing the mortars being fired at Kfar Darom and is protecting soldiers and residents of the area."

The two other mortar bombs, the IDF said, fell near the border fence in the north of Gaza.

Earlier, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said a 15-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers overnight Wednesday in Gaza.







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