An Israeli military source confirmed the Gaza raids, claiming the troops had been fired on

GAZA CITY, January 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Two unarmed Palestinians were killed and 16 others injured during two Israeli military incursions into the Gaza Strip overnight, hospital sources said Sunday, January 12.

Ali Zaher Nasser, an unarmed 45-year-old civilian, was killed when an Israeli armored unit rolled into the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the source as saying.

Troops there also dynamited the home of an Islamic Jihad activist who had died in a sea attack against an Israeli patrol boat in November.

Late on Saturday night, Abdel Latif Wadi, 22, was killed when another Israeli unit pushed into a Khan Yunis village from both flanks, Palestinian sources said.

Residents said he was unarmed, but was shot by Israeli soldiers when another man threw a home-made grenade at the Israeli unit.

Palestinian security sources said a third Israeli unit, comprising some eight armored vehicles, moved into the village of Al-Qarara, in the same autonomous Palestinian area.

Israeli U.S.-made helicopter gunships backed up the troops on the ground, firing at Palestinians, leaving 16 people injured, residents said.

An Israeli military source confirmed the operations, claiming the troops had come under fire.

The latest killings bring the toll for the Intifada to 2,846 dead, mostly Palestinians. 

Demolishing Palestinian Homes

Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces razed to the ground seven workshops, garages and forges, using dynamite, and partially demolished around another 20 premises with bulldozers in Khan Yunis.

Seven other premises were damaged by rockets fired by a helicopter gunship and four vehicles were put ablaze, they added.

The Israeli army released a statement confirming that Israeli forces demolished seven houses sheltering 35 metal workshops.

Rockets Hit Southern Israeli Town

Meanwhile, three Palestinian Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit the southern Israeli town of Sderot Sunday, leaving two people suffering from shock, Israeli public radio reported.

Israeli police did not immediately confirm the attack against Sderot, a town near Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Negev desert ranch.

The attack came hours after the huge Israeli military sweep in the Gaza Strip.

The unguided and inaccurate rockets are manufactured by and named after the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic resistance group Hamas, which claimed the attack.

"We claim responsibility for the firing of six Qassam rockets on the town of Sderot, a Palestinian village seized by Israel in 1948," the group said in a statement received by AFP in Gaza City.

"They are a revenge for the Zionist attacks on Beit Hanoun and Khan Yunis," the statement added.

The Qassam rockets are used by other Palestinian groups and the latest model has an estimated range of up to 12 kilometers (eight miles). They have yet to cause any serious casualties.

An Israeli statement said that during the past two months, 52 rockets had been fired at Israeli settlers from Khan Yunis.