Israel killed 52 Palestinians yesterday in its deadliest and deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005, stoking fears of a broader conflict that could derail renewed US-backed peace talks.
At least 71 Palestinians have been killed in four days of intense Israeli air strikes and raids in the tiny Hamas-controlled territory, home to 1.5 million people, bordering Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.
Israel said it was responding to cross-border rockets which killed an Israeli man in the border town of Sderot on Wednesday and wounded others in the major southern city of Ashkelon.
Palestinian officials said the one-day death toll in Gaza yesterday was the highest since 2002.
Of the 52 Palestinians killed, at least 29 were civilians and the rest were militants, according to hospital staff and the Islamist Hamas movement, which seized Gaza last June after routing the more secular Fatah forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
One of the dead civilians was a mother who was preparing breakfast for her children when she was hit by gunfire, relatives and medical workers said. A girl and her brother were also among the dead.
One missile slammed into a crowd of Palestinians, killing four civilians, medical staff and Hamas said. The army said it fired on militants. Palestinian officials said Israeli forces advanced towards the towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalya, the largest and furthest incursion into Gaza since 2005, when Israel pulled out its settlers and troops from the territory after 38 years. The United States on Friday urged Israel to "consider the consequences" of any action ahead of next week's scheduled visit by US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
More bloodshed could derail Washington's hopes of a deal on Palestinian statehood before President George W. Bush leaves office next January. Speaking in Damascus, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told Israel what it would face if it mounted an invasion: "I say to the Zionist leaders, if they decided to raid Gaza, they will not be fought by dozens of fighters but they will be fought by 1.5 million people."
Abbas, who remains hostile to Hamas, called the Israeli actions "unbelievable" and said what is happening "is more than a holocaust", a reference to comments made on Friday by Deputy Israeli Defence Minister Matan Vilnai.
Vilnai had warned Gazans they risked a shoah if rocket fire did not end. An aide said Vilnai meant "disaster" rather than "holocaust", the word's more common meaning.
Israeli government spokesman David Baker accused Hamas of "blatantly and shamefully using residents as human shields in order to target Israeli civilians".
Witnesses said fighting erupted after Israel soldiers, backed by helicopter gunships, entered northern Gaza overnight and were confronted by Palestinian gunmen. The Israeli army said five soldiers had been lightly wounded in the fighting.