MIDDLE EAST:Just a day after Israel and the Palestinians started negotiations on a resolution of the Middle East conflict, 18 Palestinians were killed yesterday in fighting with Israeli forces, who moved into the Gaza Strip overnight on Monday in an operation aimed at deterring Palestinian fighters from firing rockets into Israel.
In Israel, a volunteer from Ecuador, who was working on a kibbutz near the Gaza border fence, was shot and killed by a Palestinian sniper.
Most of the dead in the raid were Hamas fighters who were killed by Israeli ground forces and in missile strikes by aircraft. Two of the dead were civilians, including a 65-year-old man.
In what has become a common mode of operation, Israeli troops and armoured vehicles moved into Gaza under cover of darkness and pulled out of the coastal strip early the following afternoon.
Among the dead was the son of Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza. It was the second time one of Mr Zahar's sons has been killed in an Israeli assault.
In 2003 Mr Zahar escaped with injuries when Israel bombed his Gaza home in an attempted assassination, but one of his sons was killed in the strike.
"This is one of the results of Bush's visit," Mr Zahar said, referring to the visit last week to Israel and the West Bank by the American president, which was aimed at boosting talks between the sides.
"He encouraged the Israelis to kill the Palestinian people and we are going to defend ourselves with all means," Mr Zahar said.
The carnage in Gaza will not strengthen the hand of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as he engages in talks with Israel over issues that are at the heart of the conflict, including borders, Jerusalem, refugees and settlements.
Hamas leaders accused him of collaborating with Israel and the US and demanded he end negotiations.
The Fatah-led Palestinian government in the West Bank released a statement calling Israeli actions in Gaza "ugly crimes" and a "slap in the face" to efforts by Mr Bush to promote the resumption of peace talks.
"There was a massacre today against our people, and we say to the world that our people will not remain silent against such crimes," said Mr Abbas.
For the first time since Hamas seized control of Gaza last June, fighters from the movement claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Israel.
More than two dozen rockets were fired yesterday, with many of them falling on the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
Several people were injured when a rocket slammed into their home.
Israeli leaders insisted the army would continue to operate in Gaza as long as the rocket fire continued. President Shimon Peres said Israel was "left without a choice but to answer and stop it".
Despite the raid, Israel is unlikely to launch a sweeping, open-ended military operation inside Gaza.
Mr Olmert said on Monday that despite the ongoing rocket fire, the government would not order an expansive ground operation.
The Israeli leader, meanwhile, is also facing domestic political pressure over renewed peace talks. One of the hardline parties in his coalition, Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel our Home), is expected to announce today that it is pulling out of the ruling coalition in protest over the prime minister's willingness to discuss core issues with the Palestinians.