Israel vows to continue battle against rocket attacks

Palestinians sifted through the rubble of dozens of homes in a sprawling refugee camp after Israel ended its most powerful assault…

Palestinians sifted through the rubble of dozens of homes in a sprawling refugee camp after Israel ended its most powerful assault in the Gaza Strip in four years of bloodshed.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said the military would not let up in its battle to stop rocket attacks on Israel despite the withdrawal of troops from densely populated areas in northern Gaza at the start of the Muslim Ramadan holiday.

Medics said more than 100 Palestinians were killed in the 17-day Israeli operation, launched on Sept. 29 after a Palestinian rocket salvo killed two toddlers in southern Israel.

The offensive added bite to Israel's pledge to hit militants hard before its planned removal of settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, a pullout opinion polls show most Israelis support but which opponents call a victory for Palestinian violence.

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The militant Palestinian group Hamas responded to Friday's northern Gaza pullback by declaring it would fire Qassam rockets "as long as the crimes of the Israeli occupation continued".

Hamas said some 50 of its fighters were killed during the Israeli assault. Thousands of the group's supporters took to the streets of Jabalya refugee camp after Israeli troops left and called for more rocket attacks to "make the Jews scream".

Residents in Jabalya, home to 100,000 and the scene of fierce fighting between troops and gunmen, said Israeli tanks and bulldozers had demolished dozens of homes and torn up roads and water pipes.

Palestinian officials estimated more than 100 houses had been destroyed in northern Gaza. They said it would take two days to arrive at a final figure.