Palestinians today renewed threats to strike at the heart of Israel as some 10,000 mourners attended the funerals in central Gaza of the victims of a major Israeli army offensive early this morning.
At least 14 Palestinians were killed and some 72 others wounded early this morning as scores of Israeli troops targeted two refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.
Thirteen of the 14 victims were buried in a mass ceremony in a nearby cemetery.
They included nine militants and three children.
Israeli troops, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, engaged in fierce battles against suspected Palestinian militants in the camps.
Palestinian medics said many of those killed were civilans, including three boys aged 8, 12 and 14.
According to reports, after Israeli troops blocked the entrance to one of the camps and announced that a curfew would be imposed, about 1,500 people then surged to the entrance, where fierce clashes broke out.
The Palestinians pelted the troops with anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, Molotov cocktails and stones, triggering exchanges of fire but without causing injuries on the Israeli side.
Many of the 72 injured were teenagers who had been throwing stones at armoured vehicles.
Israel described the raids as a 'pinpoint' operation against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, while Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's top advisor Nabil Abu Rudinah described the incident as a massacre.
