Fierce fighting between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians reported in Gaza

Gaza/Tel Aviv, May 12 (IANS/DPA) Israeli troops are engaged in fierce fighting with armed Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

The military wing of the Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas cited heavy clashes between its fighters and Israeli forces in the area of Jabalia, some four kilometres north of Gaza City.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the previous evening that warplanes had attacked targets in Jabalia after the civilian population there had been evacuated.

The Times of Israel wrote on Sunday that the army had called for an estimated 1,00,000-1,50.000 Palestinians in the Jabalia area to be evacuated.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has expressed "extreme concern" about evacuation calls for both Jabalia and Rafah in the south.

The clashes have highlighted apparent differences between Israel's political and military leaders over strategy in the Gaza war.

Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi reportedly complained to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the lack of a political strategy for the post-war period meant the army was now fighting in places such as Jabalia, which it had previously taken and withdrawn from.

According to media reports, Israeli soldiers are also still deployed in other locations in the north of the Gaza Strip.