MIDDLE EAST:Israel lost its first soldier in combat in nine months yesterday in a confrontation with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, where the Islamist group seized control a month ago.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian after he sprayed bullets at an Israeli checkpoint, the army said.
In the Gaza clash, which fell on the anniversary of the start of Israel's war with Lebanese Hizbullah fighters a year ago, two other soldiers and two Hamas gunmen were also wounded. An Israeli statement said the soldier, the first Israeli to die in combat since November, was killed in a raid on militant targets in central Gaza.
Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said its gunmen ambushed the Israeli troops raiding the al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza. The fighting, involving troops backed by tanks and bulldozers, ended in the evening as the soldiers went from house to house, detaining dozens of Palestinians, the army and local witnesses said.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert vowed Israel would continue to fight the militants in Gaza, where Israel has stepped up incursions to isolate Hamas's rulers who refuse to recognise Israel and stop gunmen from firing rockets at the Jewish state.
The Qassam Brigades group vowed to continue "to sow death among the soldiers of the occupation in our beloved Gaza Strip".
President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian government in the West Bank "totally rejected and condemned" the raid on Gaza.Despite the violence, Mr Olmert plans to meet Mr Abbas on Monday for a second round of talks since the Palestinian leader established his new, emergency administration last month, an Israeli official said.