Sharon under pressure as gun battles continue

[bemildred]

Gaza - Israeli troops killed five Palestinian militants in gun battles on Monday as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sought to dampen rising pressure for a referendum on his plan to withdraw from occupied Gaza.

In a rare episode of its kind, two Hamas militants breached the new security fence along Gaza's border with Israel and moved in on a kibbutz, or collective farm, for an attack when they were spotted and shot dead by troops, military sources said.

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"The prime minister believes we must refrain from dragging the people into an election campaign at a time when the political and economic programme is being carried out," his office said in a statement.

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Rebels in Sharon's camp reject any pullout from Gaza as "a reward to Palestinian terrorism" and have gained strength from an upsurge of attacks by militants bent on proving they chased settlers out of Gaza.

IOL