32 Palestinians killed in deadliest day of fighting

Israeli forces killed 32 Palestinians today, including two children and a general - the deadliest day in 17 months of fighting.

Hours earlier, a 19-year-old Palestinian militant broke into a Bible study class and killed five young Israelis with grenades and an assault rifle.

The past week was the bloodiest since fighting erupted in September 2000, with 104 Palestinians and 35 Israelis killed. Palestinian militants have carried out a series of shootings and bombing attacks on Israeli civilians, and Israel has struck back hard with tanks, jets and helicopter gunships.

Amid the daily bloodletting, US President George Bush unexpectedly said he was sending his peace envoy, Anthony Zinni, back to the region for another go at re-starting peace talks.

The prospect of any dialogue seemed far off today, however, as Palestinians accused Israeli troops of firing indiscriminately in densely populated areas, and said the latest raids were intended to sabotage Zinni’s mission before it began.

Among the Palestinian dead today was Major General Ahmed Mefraj, the most senior security chief killed so far. As news of his death spread, hundreds of gunmen converged on the Gaza hospital where his body was taken, shooting rifles in the air and swearing vengeance on Israel.

Also killed today was a Palestinian hospital worker, shot on his way to work, and two children, aged nine and 11, who were hit by machine gun fire.

Palestinian medics accused Israeli troops of stopping ambulances from reaching the wounded, saying several people were left to bleed to death.

Israeli calls for action against Islamic extremists spiralled today following an attack on a Gaza Strip school in the Jewish settlement of Atzmona.

A 19-year-old gunman went on a 15 minute rampage after breaking in shortly after midnight, throwing grenades and firing an assault rifle.

One student was incinerated by a grenade as he slept, and four other teenagers were gunned down as they studied the Bible in a school hall. Twenty others were wounded.

Army commanders said the gunman threw six grenades and emptied nine ammunition clips before being shot dead by troops who raced to the scene.

Today’s heaviest fighting raged through Khouza village in southern Gaza, where General Mefraj was among 16 Palestinians killed. Fifty-five people were wounded.

Israeli troops fired from helicopter gunships and tanks, and at one point commandeered a Palestinian ambulance to use as cover during the raid, witnesses said. ‘‘The sky was raining with bullets from all directions,’’ said Hatem Abu Teir, a farmer in Khouza.

The army said the village was a ‘‘centre of terrorist activity.’’

Later, Israeli helicopters fired four missiles at Palestinian security headquarters in the nearby town of Khan Younis. The Palestinian police chief of Gaza, Brigadier General Abdel Razek Majaidie, was in the building preparing for Mefraj’s funeral. He barely escaped, and accused Israel of trying to kill him.

Israeli forces also attacked a Palestinian police base north of Gaza City after midnight. Five people were killed, including a rescue worker in an ambulance, doctors said.

Elsewhere, fighting in the West Bank killed 11 Palestinians, with the heaviest battles reported in the Tulkarem refugee camp and near Bethlehem.

In the Tulkarem camp, dozens of Palestinian gunmen were pinned down, surrounded on all sides by Israeli forces, including helicopter gunships firing from above.

Israeli troops used loudspeakers to call on the gunmen to surrender, but none did. Hospital officials said Israeli troops prevented ambulances from reaching the camp to treat the wounded.

Near Bethlehem, Israeli helicopters, tanks and troops hit the Aida refugee camp. Among the dead were a woman killed by shrapnel and a hospital administrator whose car was hit by tank fire.