Top commander among 20 Palestinians killed

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.

The violence surged again just as US President George Bush said he was sending an envoy back to the region to try to stop ever-escalating violence.