Israel has defyied international fury and a rare US rebuke to expand its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years today after killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee camp.
The UN Security Council urged an end to violence after Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, many of them youths, at a peaceful protest yesterday. The council had convened at the behest of Arabs incensed at what they branded a "war crime".
Reflecting its displeasure, the United States, Israel's chief ally, allowed adoption of the UN resolution by abstaining rather than using its veto. President George W. Bush urged restraint from the Jewish state.
Senior US officials kept up pressure with phone calls to Israeli counterparts, urging Israel to wrap up the three-day-old raid as quickly as possible, an Israeli political source said.
Israeli commentators predicted Israel would soon comply. "Time is running out," read a headline in the Jerusalem Post.
But the army, which stormed the Rafah camp after losing 13 soldiers in Gaza ambushes last week, forged ahead today.
Troops pushed into the Rafah districts of Brazil and As-Salam, on the border with Egypt, where the army says it is hunting for tunnels used to smuggle weapons for a Palestinian revolt since 2000. Witnesses said troops demolished several homes.
An overnight helicopter strike near an olive grove killed three militants, witnesses said. Medics said the remains of two other men were found in what looked like another missile attack. The army said it struck gunmen planting bombs.
Witnesses said soldiers shot dead a man (39) who went onto his roof and shouted a request for water. The army said troops "spotted a terrorist and shot him".