Israeli helicopter mounted assassins killed two children in a missile attack aimed at an Islamic Jihad leader today.
The boys aged three and 13, died when the missiles were fired at a Palestinian car stopped at traffic lights in the West Bank town of Hebron.
One car took a direct hit and was charred and smoking. Two other vehicles were struck by debris that shattered windows and windscreens. Hundreds of people surrounded the cars.
Seven passengers and bystanders were wounded, including the apparent target of the strike.
Dr Jamil Haslamoun at Ahli Hospital in Hebron identified those killed as 13-year-old Shadi Arafi and three-year-old Burhan Himouni. Half the younger child's head was missing, he said.
The younger boy, along with his father and an activist of the militant Islamic Jihad group, Mohammed Ayoub Sidr, 26, were riding in the car that took the direct missile hit. The two men, who are related by marriage, were seriously wounded, hospital officials said.
Relatives said they had been on their way to a bakery to buy traditional sweets for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The 13-year-old boy, Shadi Arafi, and his father, Ahmed, were passengers in a taxi behind the car hit by the missile. "My son was next to me. I don't know what happened. All I know is that I carried my son into the hospital," Arafi said before breaking down in tears.
The Israeli military declined to comment. Elsewhere, one person was killed and another wounded in an explosion in the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian sources said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat abandoned plans to attend this week's gathering of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Qatar. Mr Arafat, who was to have left for Doha last night, feared Israel would not allow him to return, said Palestinian officials.
Mr Arafat's concerns were confirmed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher that "we have no objection to Mr Arafat leaving and going to Doha, on condition he doesn't return." While the Palestinian Authority has functional autonomy in the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank, Israel controls its airspace and the international borders.
Mr Arafat also came under mounting criticism from US leaders for failing to rein in Palestinian militants who have carried out a string of bombing and shooting attacks on Israelis.
Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said the attacks are "destroying Arafat's authority and credibility," while Vice President Dick Cheney said that "until Arafat demonstrates that he is serious about suicide attackers, there won't be progress."
European Union foreign ministers met Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres and top Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath today in an effort to halt the violence, but they held out little hope for progress.
"It's a grim situation," British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said in Brussels.
AP