In pictures: Mid-East fire and fury

Almost 40 Palestinians and six Israelis have died in the worst day of violence since the Palestinians launched their uprising 17 months ago.

Israeli air strikes and major armoured incursions across the West Bank and Gaza Strip followed an attack on a Gaza settlement by a Palestinian gunman.

A Palestinian gunman killed five Israelis in the Atzmona settlement in the Gaza Strip

Hamas militants fired in the air at the funeral of the gunman

Israel retaliated with a wave of air strikes in Gaza and the West Bank

Palestinian civilians were among the casualties of Israeli shelling in Gaza

Troops detained Palestinian suspects in a raid on a refugee camp in Tulkarm

Palestinian suspects were also rounded up in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem

Palestinian fighters face overwhelming Israeli firepower

Palestinian police prayed next to their assault rifles in Bethlehem