Six Dead As Israeli Tanks Enter Gaza

Israeli troops in tanks and armored vehicles mounted an incursion into Gaza today, killing at least six Palestinian militants on the eve of a new round of peace talks.

As many as 30 tanks and vehicles were involved in the operation in southern Gaza, near the Sufa crossing and close to the town of Khan Yunis. Several Palestinians were reported injured.

The Israeli military said it was a routine operation against militants, but Palestinian officials accused Israel of trying to disrupt the peace talks. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to meet tomorrow at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem to start a new process of talks in the wake of the Middle East conference in Annapolis late last month.

Palestinian officials have already complained about an Israeli decision last week to issue tenders for more than 300 houses in the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa.

"The Israeli policy of escalation aims to sabotage and place obstacles before the negotiations even before they start," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Most of the dead appeared to be members of Islamic Jihad, a small but hard line Palestinian militant group which has been responsible for firing makeshift rockets from Gaza into Israel.

Israeli troops destroyed a petrol station and a second building where militants had gathered. Around 60 Palestinians were detained in what was the largest Israeli operation in Gaza for several months. Palestinian fighters fired back and hit one Israeli tank. At least two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured.

"They believe that such operations will harm the resistance and weaken it, but they are mistaken," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Although Israeli and Palestinian leaders and negotiators have been meeting regularly for several months, tomorrow's meeting in Jerusalem marks the beginning of a new round of talks intended eventually to bring the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

No immediate breakthrough is expected, though the meeting may agree a series of committees to look into some of the key issues at stake.

Palestinian negotiators have said they will focus this meeting on calls for a halt to settlement activity, particularly in the light of the expansion of Har Homa settlement announced last week. The new post-Annapolis talks mark a return to the US road map, under which Israel has committed to halting all settlement activity and to removing some of its settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Yesterday, the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said of the Israeli announcement over Har Homa: "This is a time that we should be building confidence and this is not something that builds confidence."

The EU presidency, currently held by Portugal, said today the bloc feared "this initiative might undermine ongoing efforts in the search for peace and confidence building between the Parties, especially at this point in time."

Israeli officials have said they do not regard the road map as applying to Jerusalem. The eastern part of the city, which Palestinians claim as their capital, was occupied by Israel in the 1967 war and later annexed, although most of the international community does not recognize the annexation.