Israel kills nine Palestinians in Gaza

The Israeli Army has killed 129 Palestinians since it began its assault. Picture / Reuters

GAZA - Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including a three-year-old, and wounded 30 others in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medics and witnesses said.

Israel has stepped up air strikes and launched raids into Gaza to stop rocket attacks and recover a soldier captured by militants on June 25. The army has killed 129 Palestinians since it began its assault. More than half are civilians.

Israeli troops have continued the offensive in Gaza while fighting on a second front in Lebanon following the capture of two soldiers by Hizbollah guerrillas in a July 12 raid.

Among those killed in the attacks in Gaza on Wednesday were six loyalists of the governing Hamas militant group and one gunman from the kindred Islamic Jihad faction, which is also dedicated to destroying Israel.

Medics said a three-year-old and another civilian were killed.

Israel's army said it had carried out strikes against militants.

At least 30 tanks and other armoured vehicles pushed more than 1 km (0.6 miles) into the northern Gaza Strip overnight. Troops clashed with militants on the edge of Jabalya, a stronghold of Hamas.

Israel also bombed offices used by a Hamas-led force in Gaza City on Wednesday. The army has destroyed several offices of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which accuses Israel of trying to bring down its elected administration.

Israel has rejected demands by the militants who captured Corporal Gilad Shalit to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his release.

The offensive has put pressure on Hamas, which was already struggling under a crippling US-led aid embargo, designed to pressure the group to recognise Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace deals.

- REUTERS