Israel launches major Gaza raid, 11 die

3.30pm

GAZA - Israel has killed at least 11 Palestinians in its biggest push into Gaza City in two years of fighting, adding ammunition to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security pledges two days before a general election.

Dozens of armoured vehicles backed by missile-firing helicopters rumbled from three directions into the Zaitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City today, a stronghold of the militant Islamic group Hamas that has carried out scores of suicide attacks.

Israeli forces pulled up within 100m of the main Palestine Square in the night-time incursion, the strongest and deepest operation inside Palestinian-ruled Gaza City since an uprising for statehood began in September 2000.

Palestinian security officials said soldiers stormed homes and metal workshops and destroyed one of the biggest factories in Gaza, a plant that makes garbage containers. Israel often raids suspected arms factories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

At least 11 Palestinians were killed, three by a missile from the air, and dozens wounded, hospital officials said. An Israeli military source said troops came under fire from gunmen with assault rifles, explosives and anti-tank missiles.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Friday he and Sharon had decided to launch a series of military operations in the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket attacks.

Israeli snipers commandeered rooftops as tracer bullets streaked through the night sky and calls rang out from mosques for armed Palestinians to confront the Israelis. An Israeli missile slammed into a market, setting it ablaze.

"Every man with a weapon must rush to the streets and defend Palestinian honour," loudspeakers blared amid thunderous explosions.

"We were asleep, all of a sudden the ground was shaking...I saw tanks and froze in my place," said Ahmed Nemer, a Zaitoun resident.

"We squeezed in one room and awaited God's mercy. We could hear the soldiers shouting at neighbours to open doors and come out."

Sharon has made tough military action against Palestinian militants the bedrock of his election campaign and pledged not to negotiate peace until violence against Israelis ended.

Opinion polls show his right-wing Likud party will romp to victory in Tuesday's vote.

"Prime Minister Sharon is determined to end his election campaign with more Palestinian blood and with more destruction and with more aggression and escalation," Palestinian cabinet minister said.

In a television interview broadcast hours before the raid, Sharon promised never to compromise on Israeli security.

The surge in violence came against the backdrop of talks between Palestinian factions in Cairo on an Egyptian proposal for a one-year unilateral ceasefire.

On Saturday, Israeli forces blew up four bridges in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, cutting it off from Gaza City after five rockets fired from the area landed in a southern Israeli town near Sharon's ranch but caused no serious injuries.

The Egyptian ceasefire proposal was outlined in a document that also upheld the right to resist occupation and retain Yasser Arafat as Palestinian president.

A Palestinian official said the groups -- ranging from Arafat's mainstream Fatah to Islamist and Marxist factions -- wanted to make Egypt's proposal conditional on an Israeli commitment to end its violence.

Agreement to a one-year unilateral ceasefire seemed a long shot from the outset. Several factions such as key militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected it before talks even began. Only Fatah has endorsed the idea so far.

At least 1,795 Palestinians and 698 Israelis have been killed since the revolt began in September 2000 after peace talks stalled.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: The Middle East