Gaza gun battle 'kills 12'

At least 15 people are reported to have been wounded

Twelve Palestinians, including three Hamas militants and three children, have been killed in Gaza City during a big incursion by Israeli troops, Palestinian doctors say.

A leading Hamas member, Yusef Abu Hein - the main target of the raid - and two of his brothers were reported to be among those killed.

Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships surrounded a house where Hein's family live, and a gun battle ensued when he and his brothers refused to give themselves up.

The BBC's James Rodgers in Gaza said they traded fire with the Israeli force for hours and the fighting could be heard across the city.

According to witnesses, the Israeli troops finally blew up the house, killing those inside.

The incursion came hours after the release of an internationally-backed "roadmap" on Wednesday aimed at ending the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Unable to save child

Two 13-year old boys and a two-year old Palestinian child, Amir Ayyad, died during the fighting, doctors said.

Amir Ayyad's father said he and his four children had been huddled in their house trying to shelter from the automatic weapons fire and tank shell explosions, but Amir, attracted by the noise outside the building wandered over to the window.

ROADMAP MAIN POINTS

Phase 1 (to May 2003): End of terrorism, normalisation of Palestinian life and Palestinian political reform; Israeli withdrawal and end of settlement activity; Palestinian elections

Phase 2: (June-Dec 2003) Creation of an independent Palestinian state; international conference and international monitoring of compliance with roadmap

Phase 3 (2004-2005): Second international conference; permanent status agreement and end of conflict; agreement on final borders, Jerusalem, refugees and settlements; Arab states to agree to peace deals with Israel

Roadmap full text

Can attacks be stopped?

Before his father was able to reach him he was shot in the head and killed.

"I could not help him," Mr Ayyad said, choking back tears at the local morgue, where his son's tiny body lay.

The intensity of the gun battle hampered the efforts of medical teams to reach the scene.

A leading Palestinian figure, Saeb Erekat, said Israel was using tanks to respond to the publication of the "roadmap".

However, the Israeli army said the operation was aimed at what it called "the terrorist infrastructure" in Gaza.

Our correspondent says the timing of the raid is likely to reinforce Palestinian doubts that the latest Middle East peace plan can succeed.

In other violence Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have shot dead two armed Palestinians in the town of Yata near Hebron.

British suicide bomber

Hours before publication of the "roadmap", a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Tel Aviv cafe killing three people and injuring at least 50.

The British Government has vowed to assist Israel's investigation into the bombing after Israeli authorities said two Britons were behind the attack.

Mr Sharon is cautious

The peace plan - which has been rejected outright by Hamas - is now being considered by the Israeli and Palestinian governments.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath called for its immediate implementation, according to Associated Press news agency.

But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a statement he had received the blueprint "for the purpose of formulating comments on the wording", AP reported.

The "roadmap" has been drafted by envoys from the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.

It calls for an immediate ceasefire, a crackdown on Palestinian militants, an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian towns and the dismantling of Jewish settlements erected since 2001.

It is intended to be a phase-by-phase route to ending conflict, and could lead to full Palestinian statehood as early as 2005.