Fighting between Palestinian militants and Israel troops raiding a southern Gaza Strip town yesterday killed five Palestinians and wounded 16 others in an Israeli offensive in the coastal territory.

　　Also, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepared to brief members of his Likud Party on the details of his plan to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank if peace efforts remain stalled, Israeli media reported.

　　Since Sharon announced details of his plan last month, violence in Gaza has increased, with both Israel and militants stepping up attacks to try to paint the withdrawal as a victory.

　　Israel also began a new offensive into Gaza after a twin suicide bombing by two Gaza militants killed 10 people in the Israeli port of Ashdod on March 14.

　　In a raid early yesterday, troops entered the town of Khan Younis and surrounded the compound where a member of the militant Islamic Hamas movement was hiding, the army said.

　　As he and his wife tried to flee, troops fired at him and he exploded - killing his wife - indicating he was carrying a bomb or wearing an explosive belt, of the type used by suicide bombers, the military said.

　　Palestinian doctors said they received the legless body of Hamas activist Basem Kadeeh and said his wife was killed by the shrapnel from the explosion. Another three Hamas members died during a gunbattle with the Israelis, the hospital said.

　　The Israeli military said it destroyed three structures in the compound, including Kadeeh's house and a workshop where militants made rockets, mortars and missiles. Militants attacked the troops with rockets and gunfire, the army said.

　　Residents said troops in tanks and helicopters fired machine guns during the raid.

　　They also accused the military of damaging sewage and water pipes.

　　Hospital officials said that 16 Palestinians were wounded, including five hurt by flying stones caused by the building demolitions. A sixth Palestinian, wounded in a clash with Israel earlier this month, died in a Gaza hospital yesterday, doctors said.

　　Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned the raid.

　　"At a time when everyone is concentrating on disengagement from Gaza, the Israeli army is actually re-engaging and reoccupying Gaza," he said.

　　Sharon's "disengagement plan" would include dismantling nearly all Israeli settlements in Gaza and a handful in the West Bank, while imposing a boundary on Palestinians.

　　Sharon, who has released few specifics of his plan, says he wants to reduce friction by separating Israelis from Palestinians. Palestinians charge that he is trying to take control of large parts of the West Bank, which they want for a future state.

　　On Saturday, a Palestinian militant group offered an unusual apology for mistakenly killing an Arab college student in a drive-by shooting in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem, calling his family to share their condolences and declaring him a "martyr."

　　(The Associated Press)