Tuesday, June 19, 2007 by Staff Writer

Israel on Tuesday sent ambulances into the northern Gaza Strip at great peril to their crews in order to evacuate 11 Palestinians wounded a day earlier by Hamas gunmen. The wounded Palestinians were taken to hospitals in the Greater Tel Aviv area. Four others were treated at the scene.

The victims were among the hundreds of Palestinians gathered at northern Gaza's Erez Crossing who are trying to flee from the coastal strip following Hamas' military conquest of the area late last week. On Monday, Hamas militants approached the crossing and opened fire on the displaced persons. One person was killed in the shooting.

Israeli tanks later moved to the Palestinian side of the crossing to protect the area from further attacks.

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