Israel pulls out of Gaza camp after killing 11

GAZA - Israeli troops pulled out of a Gaza refugee camp after killing 11 Palestinians, including militants, ending a two-day raid which Israel said it launched in response to a series of mortar attacks on Jewish settlements.

The violence in Khan Younis, scene of repeated Israeli incursions in southern Gaza, was the latest in a series of incidents that shattered a brief period of calm in the Palestinian territories after the death of President Yasser Arafat in November.

In the latest bloodshed, the Israeli army said troops shot dead two Palestinian gunmen and a third died from tank fire after he had fired an anti-tank rocket towards soldiers. About 40 Palestinians were wounded in the raid which began on Friday.

Prior to the pullout, Palestinians had been unable to bury those killed in the incursion because Israeli forces were in control at the local cemetery, medics said.

The army said it launched the raid after gunmen bombarded nearby Jewish enclaves with dozens of mortar bombs and rockets in a week, killing a foreign worker and wounding 17 more people.

Abu Haron, a spokesman for Abu Rish Brigades, part of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, said his group was behind some of the attacks.

"Resistance will not stop and no one will be able to stop it as long as occupation continues," he said.

Abbas condemned the raid, saying it was Israel's way of trying to obstruct a Palestinian presidential election on Jan. 9 to succeed Arafat.

Militants from the Hamas militant group also launched four Qassam rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a frequent scene of rocket attacks, causing no injuries.

- REUTERS