Israel pulls troops out of Gaza

Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip yesterday after some of the fiercest gun battles with Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run territory since last year's military offensive.

Violence began on Friday when soldiers patrolling the border crossed into Gaza after spotting Palestinians planting explosives near the fence with Israel. Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed. The fighting followed recent Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel that have increased tensions along the Israel-Gaza border. Palestinians fired another rocket into Israel after troops left yesterday. Nobody was injured.