Israeli tanks, helicopters and warplanes pounded a Hamas training today and killed 14 militants in the deadliest attack in Gaza for nearly four months.
Just past midnight local time, tanks at the Nahal Oz border crossing between Israel and Gaza opened fire on Shijaia, a suburb of Gaza City, and warplanes and helicopters fired missiles, witnesses said.
The assault is seen as part of Israel's retaliation for two suicide attacks that killed 16 people on two Israeli buses in Beersheba last Tuesday.
Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri
Gaza's main hospital was overwhelmed by the flood of casualties. More than 20 people, including militants and bystanders, were injured, medical officials said.
"This ugly Israeli crime . . . will not pass unpunished," a Hamas spokesman said. "It is an open war between the Zionists and us."
The growing spiral of violence could further complicate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw troops and settlers from the occupied Gaza Strip by the end of 2005. Militants are determined to claim any Israeli pullout as a victory, but the army has vowed to smash armed factions first.
Israeli leaders had pledged harsh reprisals, including the resumption of a campaign to assassinate Hamas leaders, in response to the Beersheba bombings, the first suicide attacks in the Jewish state in nearly six months.