As Israelis seek soldiers' remains, 12 Arabs killed

RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Hundreds of Israeli troops on their hands and knees combed desert sand Thursday for the scattered remains of five comrades killed in a Palestinian attack, as 12 Palestinians were killed in Israeli missile strikes and exchanges of fire nearby.

The escalating violence triggered debate in Israel over its presence in Gaza. While some called for a pullout, others recommended tougher military measures.

Eleven Israeli soldiers were killed in roadside ambushes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, the army's most significant setback in more than three years of fighting. Twenty-seven Palestinians have been killed since Tuesday and at least 235 Palestinians have been wounded.

The Israeli losses prompted renewed calls from Israelis for the withdrawal of troops and 7,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed a pullback, but his Likud Party voted the measure down two weeks ago in a nonbinding referendum, even though opinion polls show that as many as 70 percent of Israelis support it. Sharon is trying to revive the plan.

The Maariv newspaper ran a headline on its front page Thursday decrying "The Curse of Gaza." Widely known actor Shlomo Vishinsky, who lost a son in Wednesday's blast, called him a "patsy for the Likud" in Israel's largest daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, adding, "It's clear that no one wants to be in Gaza, except the members of Likud."

Thursday's flashpoint was the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza, on the border with Egypt. A day earlier, Palestinian militants fired a homemade rocket from Rafah at an armored personnel carrier transporting a ton of explosives, and the blast killed five soldiers inside, scattering their remains over a wide area.

Israeli helicopters hovered above Rafah on Thursday, as hundreds of soldiers with surgical gloves, assault rifles slung over their shoulders, crawled in the sand and put body parts into plastic bags. The sound of gunfire echoed in the background.

In providing cover for the search party, helicopters fired at least five missiles into Rafah. One killed seven people, and another several hours later killed four others, including two 15-year-old boys, hospital workers said. In a separate incident in Rafah, a 19-year-old man was killed by Israeli gunfire.

The army said it fired missiles at gunmen, and residents said at least five of the dead were fighters.

The explosives in the armored vehicle that was destroyed Wednesday were intended for blowing up weapons-smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Rafah.

No militant groups claimed to be holding any remains of the soldiers killed in Wednesday's blast - unlike an incident Tuesday in which militants held soldiers' body parts as bargaining chips. Israeli officials said Egypt was assisting in the recovery effort.

Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, the army chief, told Israel Radio that Egypt had agreed to let army rabbis search for remains on its side of the border. There was no immediate comment from Egypt.

The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv reissued a recommendation to U.S. citizens to leave Gaza, said spokesman Paul Patin.

Early Thursday, Israeli troops withdrew from the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City, ending a two-day operation, the biggest in the Gaza Strip in eight years. Troops had poured into Zeitun on Tuesday after six soldiers were killed there when their armored vehicle, also packed with explosives, hit a roadside bomb.

The military said troops left after completing a search for remains of the six.

During the two-day search, four multistory buildings were destroyed, dozens of homes were damaged by Israeli bulldozers or shells, hundreds of olive trees were uprooted and the main road was torn up and flooded with sewage.

Large piles of rubble blocked the front doors of homes, forcing some residents to exit through the windows. Residents sifted through the debris for belongings, and a young boy dug up a bloodied, flattened helmet of an Israeli soldier.

The Israeli army rejected suggestions there was wanton destruction.

"There was a lot of fighting, a lot of explosive devices activated (by Palestinians), and all of this takes a toll on the civilian infrastructure," said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman.

Shortly after the pullout, Palestinian militants returned some body parts to Israel, according to an agreement worked out with Palestinian and Egyptian officials, but Israel insisted it made no deal.

- Information from the Washington Post was used in this report.

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