Palestinians and Israelis continued to bury their dead yesterday.
A four-month-old Palestinian infant - the youngest victim of the violence so far - was buried during a funeral in the Gaza Strip attended by thousands. A Jewish settler, killed early yesterday in the West Bank, was also laid to rest.
Thousands of angry residents from across Gaza flocked to the funeral of Iman Hijo, who was killed when Israeli tanks fired shells at the Khan Younis refugee camp on Monday. Some carried posters of the infant; others filed past her tiny coffin, kissing her on the forehead.
Three Arab members of the Israeli parliament also attended the funeral. "The blood that has been shed in Gaza is our blood," said Mr Ahmed Tibi, one of the parliament members.
Israel said Monday's shelling of Khan Younis, in which more than 20 Palestinians were injured, including the baby's parents, was in retaliation for the firing of mortar shells on two Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, expressed sorrow on Monday over the death.
In the West Bank, a Jewish settler, Mr Aryeh Arnaldo Agraniondi (44), was killed while guarding caravans at a settlement outpost near the Palestinian city of Nablus. His body had bullet and stab wounds. Police said they discovered footprints leading to a nearby Palestinian village.
Addressing the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem yesterday, Mr Sharon said his government rejected a call, by the Mitchell Commission of inquiry into Israeli-Palestinian violence, for a freeze on settlement building. "We don't have to pay in order not to be killed," he said. "We will not pay protection money."
Mr Sharon also said that the captain and crew of a weapons-laden boat, which had been captured by Israel on its way to Gaza on Sunday night, had succeeded on three previous occasions in smuggling arms.
Palestinian leaders yesterday denied any connection to the arms cache, which included Katuyusha rockets and Strella anti-aircraft missiles. Palestinian Minister Mr Saeb Erekat insisted that the Palestinian Authority had "absolutely nothing to do with it. We didn't know about it and refute utterly the accusations of the Israeli government."