Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in a raid by tanks and helicopter gunships on a refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip early today, witnesses and hospital staff said.
In the West Bank, witnesses said soldiers shot dead two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, in separate incidents.
The army claimed the overnight operation in Rafah camp targeted buildings used by gunmen and arms smugglers. It did not comment on the dead youth in Qalqilya town, but said forces in nearby Nablus killed a wanted man from the militant group Hamas.
Witnesses said helicopters roared overhead as about 30 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers accompanied by armoured bulldozers penetrated Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt, just after midnight.
A Palestinian gunman was killed in the ensuing clashes. Another three people died in a helicopter missile strike. The army described them as fighters armed with rifles and grenades; witnesses said they were unarmed bystanders.
The army said it destroyed four uninhabited buildings that served as gun nests for militants and were used to conceal tunnels for smuggling munitions from nearby Egypt.
The overnight violence followed Israeli raids in the West Bank town of Tulkarm yesterday in which troops rounded up hundreds of Palestinians three days after a local suicide bomber struck a nearby Israeli seaside town, wounding 30 people.
Palestinian officials denounced the operation, accusing Israel of intensifying its clampdown on the Palestinians while world attention was turned to war in Iraq. Israel said the sweep was justified by heightened security concerns.
Palestinian witnesses said about 2,000 people were brought in. The Israeli army said it was about half that number. Eleven were identified as wanted militants and taken into custody, the army said. It said most others were freed after identity checks and some were still being questioned.
At least 1,966 Palestinians and 727 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000.