By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles massed at the border with Gaza on Tuesday and a military spokesman ordered Palestinians to evacuate an area close to the frontier with Egypt, witnesses said. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the reported deployment, which came hours after Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants in a raid on the Gaza town of Khan Younis. Israeli forces have carried out numerous raids in the Gaza Strip since the June 25 capture of a soldier in a cross-border raid, some in response to rocket attacks by militants on southern Israeli towns. More than 270 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, about half of them civilians. Witnesses said Israeli armoured vehicles had deployed close to the border with the southern Gaza town of Rafah. A military spokesman jammed the frequency of a militant radio station to broadcast a message urging Palestinians to evacuate Rafah's border with Egypt, witnesses said. Several Israeli naval boats offshore moved closer to the Gaza coast, the witnesses said. Israel, alleging that militants have stepped up arms smuggling into Gaza near Rafah, sends in troops periodically to try to find and destroy tunnels beneath the border and underground hideouts. Israel withdrew its army and Jewish settlers from Gaza last year after a 38-year occupation but tension has risen on the frontier since the Islamic militant Hamas movement came to power after winning Palestinian elections in January. Israeli soldiers killed three gunmen in Khan Younis in a gunbattle earlier in the day, ambulance crews and dotors said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said that troops raiding a militant hideout had opened fire on gunmen who tried to plant a bomb.
