A night of violence in the Middle East has left eight dead and scores wounded.
Israel launched air raids on the West Bank town of Tulkarem in revenge for a Palestinian gunman's attack on an Israeli party last night.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority each blamed the other for the escalation, with the Palestinians calling the deployment of tanks right outside Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters a "real sabotage of the ceasefire."
Israel said Mr Arafat had not dismantled extremist groups, while the Palestinians said Israel wanted to destroy Mr Arafat's eight-year administration and had sparked the bloodshed with a targeted killing of a known militant leader.
F-16 jet fighters reduced the headquarters of Tulkarem governor Mr Ezzedine Sherif to a pile of rubble before dawn, just hours after a lone Palestinian gunman shot his way into the bar mitzah, or coming of age party, of 12-year-old Nina Kardashova in Hadera, northern Israel.
Abdelsalam Hasunah, a 24-year-old member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, burst into the crowded banqueting rooms and opened fire on the revellers with an M-16 automatic rifle, killing six. He was subdued by party guests.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is a radical offshoot of Mr Arafat's own Fatah movement which has become increasingly active in recent months. It had already killed a soldier and an Israeli settler this week after the death of its Tulkarem leader in an explosion attributed to Israel.
The Israeli bombs also blasted out the doors and windows of an adjacent prison, allowing the detainees - including hardliners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad - to flee.
Israeli government spokesman Mr Arieh Meckel said Mr Arafat was responsible for the Hadera attack for merely reaching an accommodation with the extremists, rather than breaking up their organisations as the international community had told him to.
AFP