Reports said Israeli Palestinians mourn radical Habash ...
Militants die in Israel strikes ... infantry, backed by helicopters, carried out raids in eastern areas of Gaza City.

At least two Palestinian gunmen were wounded. The Israeli army said one of its soldiers had been lightly injured.

The incursion came a day after Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said he had ordered the army to prepare for a major operation to end rocket fire from Gaza.

Leaders of the Hamas movement which controls Gaza say they are taking precautions for their safety amid threats by Israel to renew its policy of assassinating political leaders.

Pressure for an Israeli military escalation, including a full-scale assault, has been growing amid near-daily attacks by militants in Gaza against southern Israel using mortars and rockets.

Separately, the Israeli army arrested at least five Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank town of Nablus.

The army said it seized nearly $850,000 from money-changing offices which it said had been transferred from abroad to fund militant groups.

(BBC)

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