Israel hits Gaza hard

The attack after dark at Nusseirat caused panic

A series of intensive Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip has killed 10 people and injured dozens more.

In the deadliest of five attacks on Monday, helicopters fired two missiles at a car near a refugee camp in central Gaza killing at least seven people.

The targets were alleged Hamas weapons factories and cars carrying suspected militants, Israeli army sources said.

Hamas has fired dozens of Qassam rockets over the border from Gaza into Israel during the intifada - and there were reports of two further rocket attacks late on Monday, before Israel's night-time raids.

On Sunday, three Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush near the West Bank town of Ramallah - an attack claimed by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

As the violence continued, Arab nations have tabled resolutions at the United Nations to try to stop the construction of the controversial security barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.

One resolution calls for the legality of the barrier to be referred to the International Court of Justice.

Correspondents say the resolution has a good chance of being approved as it has gone directly to the UN General Assembly, by-passing the UN Security Council, where the United States has a veto.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised to speed up work on the fence, saying it was the best way to foil terrorism.

He also renewed his government's threat to expel Yasser Arafat from the West Bank.

Mr Sharon said the Palestinian leader was "the biggest obstacle to peace and therefore Israel is determined to bring about his removal from the political arena".

'Escalation'

The Palestinian Authority has condemned the air strikes on Gaza and renewed calls for a ceasefire.

GAZA RAIDS ON MONDAY House hit in Shajaiya: at least 14 wounded Car destroyed in city centre: 3 dead, 10 wounded Building hit near Shajaiya: no casualties Car struck near Nusseirat: 7 dead, 30 injured Building in Shajaiya hit again: at least 3 wounded

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat described the day's events as "the bloodiest and most dangerous escalation in years" and called for international intervention.

The Israeli army described the earlier strikes as a major part of what they termed their war against terrorism, says the BBC's James Rodgers in Gaza.

But with the two fresh raids, violence has been taken to an unprecedented level, our correspondent says.

The raids were the worst on Gaza since April, when nine died in an air raid on Gaza City.

'Hamas target'

The first three strikes on Monday came in the space of less than four hours.

The first Israeli target was said to be a Hamas weapons factory

At 0800 local time (0600 GMT), Israeli F-16 fighter planes struck in Shajaiya neighbourhood, east of the Gaza City centre.

A two-storey building, which the Israeli army said was being used as a weapons-making factory, was destroyed.

Three hours later two missiles were fired on a white Peugeot lorry as it was travelling through the centre of Gaza.

Two bodies were removed from the wrecked lorry, and Hamas sources were later quoted as saying the dead were members of the Hamas military wing. A bystander was killed and seven people injured.

At the funerals of the militants killed in the attack, Hamas supporters vowed revenge.

The next strike took place an hour later, when helicopters attacked a farmhouse in a field north of Shajaiya. There were no casualties.

In the evening strikes, at least 30 people are said to have been injured, in addition to at least seven fatalities, when missiles were fired at a car in the main street of the Nusseirat refugee camp.

An Israeli army statement said Palestinian "terrorists" were in the car.

A witness in the mortuary at a nearby hospital said that at least some of those killed appeared to be civilians.

The final attack of the day came when Israel hit what it said was a weapons factory in Gaza City for the second time in less than 12 hours.