Residents say Israeli fire kills 4 children in Gaza

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An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed troops were operating in Beit Hanoun, a northern Gazan border town from where Palestinian militants often launch rockets into Israel.

The Israeli air force and a tank unit fired at groups of gunmen that tried to approach troops in the town but no houses were targeted, the spokeswoman said.

Residents said an Israeli projectile smashed through the ceiling of a one-storey house where a family was having breakfast, killing four children - siblings whose ages ranged from 1-1/2 to 5 years old - and an unidentified person.

The children's mother was critically wounded.

"They were eating and they were hit," a neighbour said.

Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip last week offered Israel a six-month truce if the Jewish state lifted an embargo on the territory.

Israel has balked at entering into a formal agreement with Hamas, which is officially committed to its destruction.

Hamas said one of its snipers shot an Israeli soldier in the town. The military spokeswoman said a soldier was slightly wounded by gunfire before the air force strikes.

The spokeswoman said the operation was launched to "ensure that rocket crews, snipers and tunnel diggers are kept away from the border fence". Palestinians fired three rockets from Gaza into Israel on Monday, causing no damage, she said.

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