A PALESTINIAN man, on trial for allegedly collaborating with Israel, was killed by Palestinian militants yesterday after an Israeli air strike disrupted court proceedings.

Twenty Palestinians, including a top commander, were killed in Israeli raids before daybreak today in the West Bank and Gaza, after a Palestinian gunman infiltrated into a Jewish settlement in Gaza and killed five Israelis, one of the bloodiest days in 17 months of fighting.

An Israeli tank shell hit a Palestinian elementary school today, killing four students and wounding several others, a Palestinian security commander said.

Two pupils of a Palestinian primary school were killed today in an explosion at a refugee camp.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers have rumbled into Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, razing or heavily damaging 30 homes.