Israeli ground troops kill three in Gaza Strip raid

GAZA, Dec 11 - About 30 Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles pushed as far as 4 kms (2.5 miles) into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, sparking clashes with Palestinians that killed at least three militants, medics and militants said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said about 10 tanks and armoured vehicles entered the Hamas-run territory as part of a routine operation against Palestinian militants. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded when an anti-tank missile was fired at their vehicle, she said.

The Israeli army often attacks militants in the coastal territory to try to to stop them firing rockets and mortar bombs into southern Israel.

On Wednesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Ehud Olmert are due to hold their first talks since launching a long-stalled peace process last month in the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush wants an agreement on Palestinian statehood by the end of 2008, but the two sides remain far part on key issues and Hamas's control of Gaza could complicate the talks.

The negotiations suffered their first setback when Israel, defying Washington and other peace process sponsors, said it planned to build new homes on occupied land, and the Palestinians reacted on Monday by threatening to boycott this week's meetings.

Tuesday's violence in Gaza was a reminder of the tit-for-tat killing that has overshadowed past peace efforts.

Local residents say the raid near the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah was the largest in their area since Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the territory in 2005.

The three Palestinian militants were killed when an Israeli missile struck a house in which they were taking cover, militants and medics said.

Four militants of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of militant groups, were wounded in another missile strike, hospital workers said.

Earlier, an Israeli air strike killed a militant who was trying to launch rockets from the northern Gaza Strip and another died in an explosion in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, militant sources, medics and the army said.