Israel condemned as 20 youths killed in Gaza attack

ISRAEL faced international condemnation last night for killing 20 children and teenagers when its forces fired a missile and tank shells near a large crowd of Palestinians demonstrating against the invasion of a Gaza refugee camp.

After a meeting of senior commanders in Jerusalem, the Israeli military decided the major offensive in Gaza will continue.

More than 20 Palestinians were feared dead, all of them under 18 years of age, Palestinian hospital officials said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the offensive "unacceptable and wrong". Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also joined in criticism of Israel's tactics and urged a new commitment to the road map plan for peace.

US President George W Bush declined to condemn the attack, saying he wanted to get "clarification" of the incident from Israeli officials. He urged "restraint" from the Palestinians and Israel as the White House and the US ambassador in Tel Aviv asked Israel for an explanation for the attack.

Palestinian witnesses saw a missile land in the middle of the crowd near Gaza's Rafah refugee camp. Dr Moawiya Hassanain, a senior Palestinian Health Ministry official, said ten were confirmed dead and, of the 50 wounded, 13 were in "hopeless condition". He said most of the wounded were children.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 demonstrators were marching down the busy main street of Rafah town. When the crowd was about half a mile from the besieged refugee camp, a helicopter and tank began firing, witnesses said.

The Israeli military acknowledged it fired a missile from a helicopter and fired machine guns and four tank shells to stop a large crowd of Palestinian protesters.

At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded by the army fire, Palestinian hospital officials said. All of the dead and most of the wounded were children and teens, doctors said.

Israeli Army spokeswoman Brigadier General Ruth Yaron said troops fired warning shots to try to stop the large crowd of several thousands Palestinians who were marching toward the Rafah refugee camp, scene of the Israeli offensive.

"There were armed men in the midst of the demonstration," she said.

"One warning missile was fired from a helicopter into an open area. We see clearly that that missile hit an open area, definitely not the demonstrators," she said, adding that the military has video footage to prove this.

"In addition to this, a number of rounds were fired into the air as a warning. It didn't help. They continued moving forward," she said.

"There was (Israeli) machine gun fire into the direction of a wall in an abandoned structure, and also four tank shells were fired at this structure, at no point in the direction of the demonstrators," she said.

"At this stage, it's possible, that's our assessment, that there were casualties as a result of the tank shells that were fired."

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said the attack was "a terrorist massacre and a terrorist war crime." He said the Palestinians were considering taking their grievances before an international criminal court.

Associated Press Television News footage showed a large explosion going off in a crowd of demonstrators, followed by Palestinians carrying the injured among them several children from the scene.

Wounded were evacuated by ambulance, private cars and donkey carts to the Rafah hospital, witnesses said. The hospital stairs and floors were drenched in blood as doctors shouted for help and blood donations. Hospital staff treated the wounded on the floors after running out of beds.