5 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid

Bassem Qdeih, who was in his late 30s, was killed along with his wife Sanaa when they tried to evade arrest by Israeli forces during the pre-dawn incursion in Abasan, an eastern suburb of the town of Khan Yunis.

Three other people, including Qdeih's 21-year-old cousin, were also killed in subsequent exchanges of gunfire.

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An Israeli military source said that Qdeih appeared to have died after he either blew himself up or an Israeli gunshot triggered an explosive device that he was carrying. His wife died from the impact of the blast, he added.

But a Palestinian doctor who examined the bodies said it appeared that they had been killed by the impact of a mortar or a rocket. Their bodies were riddled with bullets, he added.

"It's clear that they died as a result of an explosion but not one that was self-inflicted," Dr Mohammed Abu Dalal told AFP.

Palestinian security officials said a total of six people were killed during the Israeli operation, although hospital sources said that they had only received five bodies.

Nine other people were injured, although only three remained in hospital for treatment and their condition was not thought to be life-threatening.

A statement from the Palestinian national security directorate said that Qdeih's father and several of his brothers had been arrested during the operation.

Three houses were also been destroyed, and the water and electricity supplies and phone lines had all been severed during the raid.

An Israeli military source said that the operation had been carried out to arrest Qdeih and to target a workshop used to manufacture rockets and mortar shells.

Relatives said that he had long been on the Israeli military's list of wanted militants and had only just returned to the family home after a lengthy period on the run.

He had been involved in the manufacture of munitions, they added.

Witnesses and Palestinian security sources said that an Apache helicopter, tanks, jeeps and bulldozers had all taken part in the raid.

The Israeli security cabinet last week decided to increase operations against Hamas and its leadership in the wake of a double suicide attack in the southern port of Ashdod on March 14 that was jointly claimed by Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Opponents of Sharon's plans for a pullout from Gaza have pointed to an upsurge in violence in the area as proof that the Palestinian militants have interpreted his proposals as a sign of weakness.

Commentators said that Sharon does not yet have a cabinet majority in support of his project, the full details of which have still to be unveiled.

Agriculture Minister Israel Katz, who confirmed that Sharon would be holding talks with the Likud members of his right-wing coalition cabinet Sunday, said the plan was "a mistake and if there is a majority of the Likud ministers against this plan, then it cannot be applied."

Katz is one of a number of Likud ministers in Sharon's government who have publicly opposed his plan to evacuate all but a handful of the Gaza settlements as part of a wider "disengagement plan".

The prime minister has announced his intention to implement the package of unilateral measures, which will also see Israel strengthen control over settlements in the West Bank, within months in the absence of any progress in the bilateral peace process with the Palestinians.

But he has made clear that he will not proceed until he has support from the US administration which has asked for more details before giving its judgement.

Sharon's cabinet chief Dov Weisglass and his national security advisor Giora Eiland had been expected to leave later Sunday for Washington to hold talks with senior US officials on the project.

But sources in the prime minister's office would only say they were expected to leave shortly.