Mourners demand revenge as Gaza air strike victims buried

THE flag-wrapped bodies of seven Palestinians killed in an Israeli missile strike were carried through the shantytown of Nusseirat in the Gaza Strip yesterday, with tens of thousands of mourners clamouring for revenge.

The seven, ranging in age from 11 to 49, were bystanders who crowded around a car after it was targeted by a missile and then were killed when a second and third missile hit, Palestinian security officials said.

The Israeli military said it believed three of the dead were militants in the car. However, the vehicle did not take a direct hit, and witnesses said the wanted men escaped.

The attack in Nusseirat was one of five airs strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, one of the most intense single-day assaults with helicopters and warplanes in three years of fighting.

In addition to the seven killed in Nusseirat, three more Palestinians two Hamas militants and a bystander were killed in the other strikes. About 100 Palestinians were wounded.

The missile hits revived debate in Israel over the policy of targeted killings in crowded areas. Israel's vice premier, Ehud Olmert, told Israel Army Radio he considered the large numbers of civilian casualties "distressing" but that military strikes would continue, "especially in light of the murderous acts of terror groups".

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia called for international intervention, referring to the air strikes as "ugly crimes". He complained that the US was not intervening, saying he believed that this was a "dangerous indication of the US government's intention to abandon" its role in peace efforts.

The Israeli military said the incident at Nusseirat began when a group of militants tried to sneak across a border fence from Gaza into Israel to carry out an attack. Two of the militants were killed by Israeli soldiers and the three others fled in a car to Nusseirat.

The military kept track of the car as it sped away and when it reached Nusseirat's main street, an Israeli helicopter fired at least two missiles toward it. The military said the missiles hit the vehicle 15 seconds apart.

Witnesses said the first missile missed the car, allowing the fugitives to escape, and that a second and third missile were fired at least two minutes later, at a time when hundreds of bystanders were at the scene.