(Updates casualties, adds details on fuel) By Yehuda Peretz NAHAL OZ, Israel, April 9 (Reuters) - Palestinian militants on Wednesday attacked an Israeli-controlled border crossing where fuel is piped into the Gaza Strip, killing two Israeli civilians, the Israeli army said. Two Palestinian militants and two civilians -- including a boy -- were killed when Israeli tank shells struck a building near the Nahal Oz terminal, Palestinian medics said. Another militant died in an air strike in Gaza City. Israel said its forces were targeting gunmen. Hours earlier, an Israeli soldier and a Hamas militant were killed in clashes in southern Gaza, both sides said. Wednesday's death toll was the highest in the territory since Israel waged a ground sweep that killed scores of Palestinians in early March. Hamas had warned on Tuesday of an "explosion" in the territory if Israel continued its economic blockade. Israel tightened its cordon after Hamas Islamists violently took over the Gaza Strip in June. Fighters from three movements, not including Hamas, infiltrated the Nahal Oz crossing, said a spokesman for one of the groups, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), describing the operation as an attempt to abduct soldiers. "Terrorists entered Nahal Oz and the fuel depot. They shot at civilians inside. There are two Israelis dead and two wounded," an Israeli army spokeswoman said. Hamas's armed wing said it pounded the area with mortar bombs and heavy machinegun fire during the operation, which the PRC dubbed "Breaking Zionist Arrogance". In addition to the PRC, Islamic Jihad and the Mujahideen Brigades, which is affiliated with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for raiding Nahal Oz. "The target was a Zionist army base and the aim was to abduct soldiers to swap them for Palestinian prisoners," said the PRC spokesman, Abu Mujahed. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said the attack on a fuel terminal that supplies Gaza with its energy needs "shows the blatant disregard the terrorists have for the well-being of the people of Gaza". POWER PLANT All the fuel pumped into the Gaza Strip passes through Nahal Oz. Western diplomats said the attack occurred after the completion of the latest delivery of EU-funded fuel to the territory's main power plant. Israel has cut back on some fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip as part of its sanctions against Hamas. Arye Mekel, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said after the attack that Israel would continue to provide the supplies necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis "but the difficulty is obvious". It was not immediately clear how much damage, if any, was done to the fuel depot at the crossing. Israel has cited past such attacks as justification for closing crossings. A European official said the EU did not expect to be able to restart its fuel deliveries to the power plant before Sunday, at the earliest. The plant has enough fuel on hand to last eight to nine days, the official said. The head of the Palestinian Fuel Suppliers' Association, Mahmoud al-Khuzundar, said reserves of benzine and diesel had been depleted, leaving only enough cooking gas for two days. "If Nahal Oz closes for a few days, the crisis in Gaza will get worse, he said. Spokesmen for militant groups said attackers withdrew into the Gaza Strip, under fire from pursuing Israeli helicopters, and that two Palestinians in a car hit from the air were hurt. The army said the vehicle had been waiting to pick up gunmen who took part in the raid. A later air strike near Gaza City killed a PRC gunman, Palestinian officials said. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Adam Entous and Richard Williams)
Israeli policemen wearing protective gear take part in a drill simulating a chemical attack in the northern city of Haifa April 9, 2008, as part of a five-day nationwide exercise to ...
