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BEIT HANOUN, Gaza (AP) -- Israeli forces ended a bloody weeklong operation in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun early Tuesday, leaving behind a swath of destroyed homes, uprooted trees and streets muddied with sewage water from pipes destroyed by tanks and bulldozers.
Nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them militants, and an Israeli soldier were killed in the offensive, designed to curb Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns.
But hours after the troops pulled out, militants began firing rockets again from a field in the town. There were no reports of injuries.
The army said it uncovered large amounts of weapons and killed and arrested dozens of militants in Beit Hanoun. After the pullout, forces took up new positions outside town. Eight Palestinians were killed in clashes in nearby areas, including three killed in a tank strike on a lawmaker's home.
In the dawn light, hundreds of townspeople -- who spent most of the last week holed up inside their homes as troops and militants battled in the town's streets -- milled around inspecting the damage the army left behind.
Hundreds climbed over large sand embankments placed by Israel to block the entrances to the town. Women stood outside their homes, many of whose outer walls were damaged by tanks that rumbled through the town's streets, ripping up asphalt, trees and cars on their way.
A mosque that had been the site of a dramatic standoff last week was largely reduced to rubble.
Khalil Yazgi, 45, looked on as children and women picked through the rubble of the four-story structure that had been home to his extended family of 50 people. All that remained was a staircase and the exposed rooms of an apartment.
'A crazy cow in a porcelain shop'
"If I was against the rockets, now I will encourage people to launch rockets from every spot," he said. "This is an act of terror ... It's as though a crazy cow walked through a porcelain shop."
Telephone and electricity wires lay exposed on the destroyed roads, with tank tracks clearly evident.
The outer wall of the town's cemetery was destroyed by tanks, and several tombstones were uprooted. Some residents tried to fix the tombstones, while others dug fresh graves for those killed in the fighting.
During an emotional funeral procession, tens of thousands of mourners filed behind ambulances carrying 23 bodies that were being buried in the town of 50,000.
Women wailed as the bodies of the dead were brought out to the streets on stretchers draped with Palestinian flags, and children ran alongside the procession. Crowds chanted "God is great."
The ambulances had a tough time driving past the rubble blocking the roads. Dozens of gunmen packed into loudspeaker cars blaring nationalist songs and the slogans of militant factions, and other militants fired volleys into the air. The streets were awash in Palestinian flags and flags of militant groups.
Siege at the mosque
In the most dramatic episode of the Beit Hanoun fighting, militants holed up inside a mosque last Thursday to escape troops who quickly ringed the building.
The following day, women loyal to the Hamas militant group marched to the mosque to free the trapped men. Troops fired on the protesters, killing two women and wounding 10 others.
By Tuesday, the only thing left of the mosque was its minaret. Men who had prayed in the neighborhood mosque stood around the rubble, smoking and trying to salvage torn copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Hamas officials said Israeli tanks fired two shells on Tuesday at the home of Jamila Shanti, the Hamas lawmaker the group credits with organizing the women's demonstration. Medical officials said three people were killed in the attack. Shanti was not in her house, near Beit Hanoun, when the shells struck.
Clashes continued, meanwhile, in nearby towns. Palestinian officials said five militants were killed in the fighting.
Officials from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency said they closed six of their schools in the area after shells landed near school buildings. At least two were occupied when the shelling began, but the buildings were not struck and no one was hurt.
Militants, meanwhile, kept up the rocket fire that the Israeli operation was meant to curb. Five rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel, including a volley of four that hit the city of Ashkelon -- the northernmost point that Gaza rockets have ever reached. Ashkelon is 8 miles (12 kilometers) north of Gaza. There were no injuries reported.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Israel for continuing its attacks in other areas of Gaza. "If Israel appeals for security and stability, shedding the blood of Palestinians is not the way," he said.
Talks continue on Palestinian unity government
The pullout from Beit Hanoun coincided with the latest effort by Palestinian leaders to forge a coalition government, which they hope will lead Western countries to lift debilitating economic sanctions against the current Hamas-led government.
Abbas, the moderate leader of the Fatah Party, and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met for more than two hours late Monday but failed to agree on a unity government. Both sides said the talks -- which have broken down in the past -- would continue Tuesday.
The platform of the emerging government remains vague on key international demands for lifting the boycott: recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting existing peace agreements. It remains unclear whether the emerging platform will be enough to end the boycott.
Without the international funds, the Palestinian government hasn't been able to pay full salaries to 165,000 civil service workers. The overdue wages have led to widespread civil service strikes.
Late Monday, teachers called off their walkout after the Education Ministry pledged to find money to pay them, civil service union head Bassam Zakarneh said.
The school year, which was to have begun in September, is scheduled to begin later in the week, officials said.
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