Eleven Palestinians die as Israeli tanks invade Gaza in hunt for Hamas

Eleven Palestinians were killed in an incursion by Israeli tanks and helicopters into Gaza City in the early hours of yesterday morning, including a medic shot dead as he tried to reach a sick man and three other civilians, Palestinian witnesses said.

Within hours, Palestinian militants fired five Qassam rockets at the nearby Israeli industrial town of Sderot, inflicting serious head wounds on one person and also injuring two others.

The fighting began in Gaza late on Tuesday night as Israeli forces moved into two areas ­ the Gaza City neighbourhood around Baghdad Street, and the nearby town of Jabaliya. Witnesses said as many as 40 tanks moved into Gaza City.

Mundur Safadi, a medic, was among the dead. From a hospital bed, his brother, Dr Ra'ed Safadi, said: "I got a call from the hospital to go to a patient with heart problems. I went to my father's house to get an oxygen cylinder and my equipment." His brother, a physiotherapist, accompanied him because they felt safer together.

"There was no shooting, we were running to cover the distance," he said. "Fifty metres from the house my brother was shot in the chest. Two seconds after, I saw what had happened and went back. I tried to help him and I was shot. Then I crawled to my father's house, gave myself an injection and waited for an ambulance."

There were two single shots, he said, indicating it was sniper fire. Neither he nor his brother were wearing the white vests that identify them as medics because the vests were in their father's house.

The Israeli army said the objective was to destroy metal workshops used by the militant organisation Hamas to build Qassam rockets.

* A 65-year-old British woman said yesterday an Israeli soldier had deliberately fired at her while she was helping a Palestinian ambulance crew in the West Bank city of Nablus. Anne Gwynne, from Aberystwyth, is a volunteer medical worker. She said the soldier shot at the driver ­ hitting his hand ­ and then at her. The bullet grazed Ms Gwynne's leg but did not seriously injure her. The Israeli army said it was checking the reports.