Israelis fire on Rafah demonstration

It is believed that around 3,000 people were taking part in the protest against the Israeli invasion of the Rafah refugee camp.

Protesters scattered in panic as the air and artillery attack took place, dragging bloodied people from the streets as smoke rose from the area. The Israeli army made no immediate comment about the incident.

Reports of the attack came soon after Israeli troops launched fresh raids on the Rafah camp, killing at least four Palestinians and confining thousands of residents to their houses amid power cuts and water shortages.

The incursion marked the second day of "operation rainbow", the Israeli army's latest hunt for militants, weapons and arms-smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt.

Today's fighting was concentrated in the Tel Sultan area of Rafah, where around 25,000 of the camp's 90,000 inhabitants live. Hospital workers said four Palestinians, including two teenage boys, had been killed by Israeli gunfire.

The workers said an unarmed 14-year-old boy had been shot dead after troops ordered men in the camp to leave their homes and surrender. The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident.

Residents remained holed up in their homes as gunfights raged between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops.

Palestinians accused the army of intentionally taking out power to the camp, an accusation dismissed as "ludicrous" by military officials.

Lt Col Grisha Yakobowits, the army's humanitarian coordinator in the area, said forces had restored power overnight, and were working to resolve disruption caused by today's action. "There is no humanitarian crisis, and we are not nearing the point where there could be a humanitarian crisis," he said.

The army said it had demolished the Rafah home of an Islamic Jihad militant. The army blamed the militant for a shooting attack in which a pregnant Israeli settler and her four daughters were killed earlier this month. Palestinian witnesses said at least three homes had been demolished overnight.

Twenty Palestinians were killed yesterday, the highest single-day death toll for more than two years. The deaths prompted the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to denounce the incursion as a "planned massacre".

The massive invasion - the largest in the Gaza Strip for years - came less than a week after Palestinian militants killed 13 soldiers, including seven in the Rafah area.

The UN and EU have demanded a halt to the invasion. US officials described the violence as "troubling", but affirmed Israel's right to defend itself.

In London today, the prime minister, Tony Blair, condemned Israel's actions in Gaza as "unacceptable and wrong". Mr Blair told MPs that the Middle East road map remained the only way to resume final status negotiations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1220300,00.html