14 Palestinians Killed in Gaza

Palestinian leaders on Sunday accused Israel of escalating hostilities after military raids on two densely populated refugee camps in the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians and injured about 80 others during fierce street fighting.

Among the dead were four bystanders, including boys ages 8, 12 and 15, according to Palestinian officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah. Dozens of children were among the wounded, the officials said.

The Israeli raids -- the latest episode in a streak of violence in the Gaza Strip -- comes as Israelis are considering whether to uproot nearly two dozen Jewish settlements there amid a Palestinian population of 1.3 million.

“At a time when they’re talking about withdrawing from Gaza, they’re literally destroying it,” said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister. “It’s a major escalation. It’s very dangerous.”

Israel said Sunday’s operation, launched in the central Gaza Strip during predawn darkness, targeted militants’ cells based in the Bureij and Nusseirat refugee camps. The soldiers were hunting for fighters and weapons, including mortars, bombs and antitank missiles that have been used in strikes against two Jewish settlements nearby in recent months, the military said.

Troops, accompanied by armored vehicles and helicopter gunships, entered the camps, but quickly met fierce resistance, according to an army spokeswoman, Maj. Sharon Feingold. Israeli soldiers returned fire during the eight-hour operation, striking several people -- all of them armed, she said.

“We only targeted Palestinian gunmen who shot at our forces or presented an immediate threat,” she said, adding that the Palestinian fighters endangered noncombatants by taking cover among civilians and ambulance crews in the densely populated neighborhood.

Militant groups said 10 of the Palestinian dead were fighters, all but one of them members of Hamas.

During the fighting, youngsters raced into the streets. Some threw stones at the tanks and soldiers, witnesses said.

The soldiers withdrew by late morning without making any arrests.

During funeral processions in the two refugee camps Sunday afternoon, masked gunmen fired weapons into the air, promising to retaliate.

The Israeli raids occurred a day after a failed Palestinian attack at the main crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel left four assailants and two Palestinian police officers dead and 19 Palestinian bystanders injured.

Three militant groups -- Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade -- claimed joint responsibility for the attempted attack.

Last week, two Israeli airstrikes killed six Palestinian militants after an Israeli soldier had been killed in an ambush by two Palestinian gunmen at the Erez crossing. The gunmen were shot dead by Israeli soldiers.

In January, a female suicide bomber detonated explosives inside the Erez crossing terminal, killing three Israeli soldiers and a security guard.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal to withdraw from Gaza settlements -- a move that may be many months away -- outraged the Israeli right wing and spurred warnings that Palestinian extremists might step up attacks to appear victorious.

Some analysts have predicted that Israel would flex its muscles in the Gaza Strip to show that it was not being chased out.

Yossi Alpher, who co-edits a website promoting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, said the recent raids and clashes in Gaza may reflect the long-familiar rhythm of attack and counterattack.

“There’s a lot of tit for tat here in both directions,” Alpher said.

The Palestinian Cabinet appealed for help from the so-called quartet -- the United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union -- that sponsored the diplomatic initiative known as the road map. The plan has stalled since it was proposed last year.

“The Cabinet notices an absence of any intervention from the quartet, particularly the U.S., to put a stop to the Israeli aggression and provide protection to our people,” a statement released Sunday said.

Raanan Gissin, a Sharon spokesman, said the raid was part of Israel’s “sustained operations” and was not tied to the proposed Gaza pullout. “We are not going to disengage in any way from fighting terrorists,” Gissin said.

In other developments Sunday, Israel’s state comptroller, Eliezer Goldberg, announced he would investigate Israel’s prisoner exchange in January with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group.

Under the deal, Israel freed more than 400 Arab prisoners in exchange for an Israeli-held captive and the remains of three soldiers killed along the Lebanese border.

The arrangement, criticized by many Israelis as overly generous, became an embarrassment for Sharon last week after news reports that he had business ties with the father-in-law of the freed Israeli, Elhanan Tannenbaum.

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Special correspondent Fayed abu Shammalah contributed to this report from Gaza City.