Israel Kills 3 in Gaza; Palestinians Kill Informer

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli army forces killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) on Friday as they wound up a search for weapons-smuggling tunnels in a southern refugee camp on the border with Egypt.

Violence has surged in Gaza since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) said he planned to pull out soldiers and settlers by the end of 2005, leading Palestinian militants and the army to vie for supremacy before the withdrawal.

In the West Bank, Palestinian militants publicly machine-gunned a "collaborator" with Israel before hundreds of approving spectators in a town square.

Residents in Gaza's Rafah refugee camp said Israeli soldiers shot dead scrap dealer Yasser al-Arja, 25, as he was picking through rubble near the border.

An army spokesman said soldiers withdrawing from Rafah came under fire from militants armed with anti-tank missiles, grenades and automatic weapons and shot back, hitting a gunman.

During the raid, troops discovered a shaft leading to a tunnel that had been dug under abandoned structures, the spokesman said. Witnesses said Israeli forces demolished six houses after ordering Palestinian families to leave.

Under Sharon's withdrawal plan, Israel will hold on to a border corridor at Rafah until arrangements are in place, possibly with Egypt, to stop arms smuggling.

Also on Friday, soldiers shot dead a Palestinian who approached their position in the Jewish settlement of Netzer Hazani in southern Gaza, Israeli military sources said.

Palestinian medics said the 45-year-old man was unarmed and may have been a farmer from a nearby village.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, Israeli army gunfire killed a 22-year-old Palestinian civilian, residents said. An army spokesman said he was unaware of such an incident.

In the West Bank town of Qabatiya, four gunmen from an armed group in President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites) movement executed a man accused of betraying the whereabouts of wanted militants to Israeli forces and of sexually molesting his two daughters.

Father-of-two Muhammad Rafiq Daraghmeh, 45, was riddled with automatic fire after he answered "yes" to both accusations and a throng of onlookers chanted, "Kill him, kill him!" Relatives of Daraghmeh said his family had disowned him.

Militant groups have killed at least 30 fellow Palestinians accused of being informers for Israeli forces combating an uprising launched in occupied territories almost four years ago.

A militant of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat 's Fatah movement, prepares his machine-gun before executing Hamad Rafiq Abdel Razek, 42, center, in downtown Qabatiya, a Palestinian village in the nothern West Bank, Friday July 2, 2004. A local leader of the group said Abdel Razek had been captured by the group on Friday and that during interrogations, he admitted that he had spied for Israel since 1989 and had repeatedly abused his daughters.(AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)
AP - 2 hours, 45 minutes ago
42-year-old Hamad Rafiq Abdel Razek falls on the ground as he is shot by militants of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat 's Fatah movement, not seen, in front of a crowd in downtown Qabatiya a Palestinian village in the nothern West Bank Friday July 2, 2004. The man was executed for allegedly collaborating with Israel and sexually abusing his two young daughters. A local leader of the group said Abdel Razek had been captured by the group on Friday and that during interrogations, he admitted that he had spied for Israel since 1989 and had repeatedly abused his daughters.(AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)
AP - 2 hours, 47 minutes ago
Jamal Abu al-Rob, left, a local leader of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat 's Fatah movement, and another militant escort Hamad Rafiq Abdel Razek, 42, before executing him in the center of the nothern West Bank village of Qabatiya Friday July 2, 2004. Abu al-Rob said Abdel Razek had been captured by the group on Friday and that during interrogations, he admitted that he had spied for Israel since 1989 and had repeatedly abused his daughters.(AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)
AP - 2 hours, 56 minutes ago

Israeli forces ending a two-day search for weapons-smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip shot dead a Palestinian on July 2, 2004, and Israeli troops killed two Palestinians elsewhere in Gaza. In the West Bank, Palestinian militants publicly machine-gunned a 'collaborator' with Israel to the cheering approval of a crowd. Two Palestinians are wheeled into a hospital with gunshot wounds in the Gaza Strip, in this July 1, 2004 file photo. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Fri Jul 2,10:34 AM ET

Israeli forces ending a two-day search for weapons-smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip (news - web sites) shot dead a Palestinian on July 2, 2004, and Israeli troops killed two Palestinians elsewhere in Gaza. In the West Bank, Palestinian militants publicly machine-gunned a 'collaborator' with Israel to the cheering approval of a crowd. Two Palestinians are wheeled into a hospital with gunshot wounds in the Gaza Strip, in this July 1, 2004 file photo. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Palestinian militants publicly executed an accused collaborator with Israel with machineguns in a West Bank town square on July 2, 2004 after a throng of Palestinian onlookers called for him to die. Wild celebrations broke out among the hundreds of spectators after four gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, shot father-of-two Muhammad Rafiq Daraghmeh, 45, in Qabatiya. A masked Palestinian from the Islamic militant group Hamas marches during an anti-Israel protest in Gaza in this June 29, 2004 file photo. Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Fri Jul 2, 8:54 AM ET

Palestinian militants publicly executed an accused collaborator with Israel with machineguns in a West Bank town square on July 2, 2004 after a throng of Palestinian onlookers called for him to die. Wild celebrations broke out among the hundreds of spectators after four gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites) movement, shot father-of-two Muhammad Rafiq Daraghmeh, 45, in Qabatiya. A masked Palestinian from the Islamic militant group Hamas marches during an anti-Israel protest in Gaza in this June 29, 2004 file photo. Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Palestinian men walk along the Israeli separation barrier that divides Abu Dis in two. Media quoted Israeli Prime Minister Sharon as saying that he felt for Palestinian landowners affected by the controversial wall.(AFP/Pedro Ugarte)

Fri Jul 2,10:21 AM ET

Palestinian men walk along the Israeli separation barrier that divides Abu Dis in two. Media quoted Israeli Prime Minister Sharon as saying that he felt for Palestinian landowners affected by the controversial wall.(AFP/Pedro Ugarte)

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