Israeli troops pull back in Gaza

The raid failed to stop a new rocket strike on Friday

Israeli troops have pulled back from the northern Gaza refugee camp of Jabaliya after a three-day raid aimed at stopping rocket attacks.

The army said it had merely redeployed its troops but they appear to have reduced their presence on the ground, particularly in the camp's vicinity.

Eight Palestinians were killed in clashes with the troops, including two young boys and man on his way to work.

Also among the dead was a senior leader of the militant group Hamas.

Doctors report that about 100 people were injured in the violence.

Despite the incursion, militants fired three rockets into southern Israel on Friday.

The BBC's Alan Johnston reports that random rocket attacks on civilian targets have become a central part of the strategy of the groups which are fighting Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip.

But the missiles are crudely made and they rarely cause serious injury or damage, although two Israelis were killed in rocket strikes during the summer, our correspondent adds.

This week's incursion - thought to be the biggest into the Gaza strip in months - came after twin suicide bombings killed 16 people in the Israeli town of Beersheba on 31 August.