ISRAEL forces entered a northern Gaza town yesterday and seized a local Hamas leader from his home amid heavy fighting with Palestinian gunmen, resulting in the death of his 14-year-old daughter.
The clash erupted in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel. The Israeli army confirmed the raid.
Despite the renewed violence, Egypt is making another attempt to broker a truce between Hamas and Israel. The deal includes a prisoner
swap and the opening of Gaza border crossings – the territory has been virtually sealed by Israel and Egypt since the violent Hamas takeover in June.
Meanwhile, Israel is to respond in the coming days to Hamas' latest proposal, which includes a six-month truce.
Hamas' Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar did not discuss details of the offer, but said that if Israel rejects the deal, "all options are open".
He issued the implied threat of more violence in a televised statement on Friday, after he returned from talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo.
Israel is sceptical about Hamas' offer. Yesterday, a former deputy defence minister, Ephraim Sneh, said his government should not accept a truce with Hamas. He said anything that prolongs Hamas rule in Gaza, including a ceasefire, goes against Israel's interest.
"There is a zero-sum game between us and Hamas," Sneh told Israel Radio, adding that he believes Israel would eventually have to try to oust the Islamic militants by force.
The target of the Israeli raid yesterday was Talat Hassan Marouf. The Israeli forces withdrew after detaining him, said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military wing.
Israeli troops reportedly came under fire from inside the house, where Marouf's family was at the time. His daughter, Mariam, was killed by shrapnel from heavy machine guns, medics in Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza said. Her mother was injured in the clashes.
An army official said the family asked to be evacuated and was eventually permitted to do so by Israeli troops. The official could not say if this was before or after the girl was killed. The wanted Hamas member then turned himself in, the army official said.
But a Hamas spokesman, Abdel Latif al-Qanou, said the army had prevented medics from arriving at the house to evacuate the injured daughter and wife, leading to the girl's death.
He said troops attacked Marouf's house with shells and missiles, causing its destruction.
Nine other Palestinians were also wounded in the fighting, said Dr Moawiya Hassanain, a Palestinian health ministry official. Three gunmen were in a critical condition, he added.
The fighting began before dawn when an undercover force entered the area. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants fired at the troops, using machine guns, mortars and homemade bombs. A dozen Israeli tanks and aircraft provided cover, and the army said its aircraft launched two missile strikes.
• Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Damascus yesterday for talks with Syria's leader on the rising prospects for Syrian-Israeli peace, after signs of progress in Turkish mediation between the two Middle-East foes.
Syrian president Bashar Assad said that Erdogan passed on the message that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is ready to return the Golan Heights and that he is looking to discuss the details with the Turkish prime minister.
"We are thinking of getting officials appointed from both sides together," said Erdogan. "If this yields positive results, efforts will begin to bring the leaders together."
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