Ross Dunn

A second Israeli armored vehicle has been destroyed in Gaza, one day after six soldiers died when an anti-tank bomb wrecked their personnel carrier. The radical group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Wednesday's blast, saying the latest attack had killed five more soldiers.

The Israeli armored vehicle was traveling in southern Gaza close to the border of Egypt when it was hit by an explosion.

The blast set off munitions inside the vehicle, which had been returning from a mission to destroy tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt.

Israeli jet fighters and military helicopters were seen patrolling the area, following the explosion.

Israeli tanks also moved into the edges of a nearby Palestinian refugee camp in Rafah, firing heavy machine guns.

The latest violence comes just one day after a bomb ripped apart another armored personnel carrier, killing six soldiers in a neighborhood of Gaza City.

Israeli forces have been combing the area for the remains of the dead soldiers after Palestinian armed groups collected the body parts and put them on display at a news conference.

The Palestinian Authority and Egypt demanded that the remains be handed back to Israel.

Palestinian Minister of Negotiations, Saeb Erekat said there was no case to keep the remains of the soldiers, despite the strong opposition among Palestinians to the Israeli military operations in their areas.

"We condemn the Israeli incursion and attacks into Gaza," he said. "Despite all these difficulties, we are exerting every possible effort in order to return the Israeli soldiers' body parts."

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 wounded since the Israelis launched a raid into Gaza City on Tuesday to find and destroy factories used to make weapons.

Four Palestinians were killed on Wednesday when Israeli military helicopters fired missiles into the Zeitoun neighborhood.

Israeli forces have vowed to keep forces in place there until their comrades' remains are handed over.

Bassam Eid, executive director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, says Palestinian armed groups should give up the body parts.

He says their actions are harming the cause of ordinary Palestinians.

"Unfortunately, I think the Palestinians and the Israelis are living in a big chaos right now, unfortunately." said Bassam Eid. "And to show such kind of body parts on the table during the press conference, I think that this is unhuman attitude from the Palestinian side."

Mr. Eid appealed to both Israel and the Palestinians to abandon the practice of using body parts as possible bargaining chips in negotiations.
注释:
armored vehicle 装甲车辆
wreck [rek] vt. 破坏
personnel carrier 输送车
radical [5rAdik(E)l] adj. 激进的
Islamic Jihad 伊斯兰圣战组织
munition [mju(:)5niFEn] n. 军需品
incursion [in5k\:F(E)n] n. 侵犯
exert [i^5zE:t] v. 竭尽全力
raid [reid] n. 袭击
Zeitoun 泽图恩，加沙地带的贫民区
vow [vau] v. 发誓
hand over 移交
executive director 执行董事
Human Rights Monitoring Group 人权监测委员会
chaos [5keiRs] n. 混乱的状态
press conference 记者招待会
chips [tFips] n. 筹码