The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, widely regarded as a moderate, has strongly criticised Israel after seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Abbas, who is the favourite to replace Yasser Arafat in elections for the Palestinian leadership on Sunday, referred to Israel as the Zionist enemy.
Troops shelled two houses in the Beit Lahiya area to the north
of Gaza City, from where Palestinian militants have been frequently firing mortars and rockets over the border into the town of Sderot in nearby southern Israel.
Witnesses said the shelling came shortly after a number of
mortars were launched, while Israeli sources said that they had fired at a group of nine masked Palestinians who were seen with rocket launchers.
Local residents said the militants had fled the area before the tank opened fire, and that all those killed were farmers who had been harvesting strawberries.
