Israeli helicopter gunships unleashed a missile strike on Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip today, prompting new Palestinian appeals for international intervention which Israel quickly dismissed.
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Israeli Tanks
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No one died in the air attack, which Israel said hit a makeshift mortar bomb factory. But witnesses said Israeli forces later killed two members of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction suspected of planting a bomb in Gaza.
A surge in violence since Friday, when a Palestinian suicide bomber killed five Israelis and Israeli air strikes involving F-16 jets killed 12 Palestinians, has heightened international concern that fighting is rapidly spinning out of control.
The New York Timessaid US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell was planning to present a US proposal for ending the violence, offering the two sides lifelines that could lead to further public and personal diplomacy.
It said Mr Powell might launch his proposal after a fact-finding commission led by former US Senator Mr George Mitchell releases its report later today into eight months of violence since Palestinians began a revolt for independence.
The Palestinians have also been incensed by the shelling of West Bank Preventive Security chief Mr Jibril Rajoub's house in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday. He was unhurt.
This is part of the war on the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority. Israel is acting as a state above the law, Palestinian cabinet minister Mr Saeb Erekat said of the air strikes in Gaza.
It is time for the world to stop this state before it is too late, he said.
Despite the growing international criticism of Israel, cabinet minister Mr Danny Naveh said the government still opposed the dispatch of any international peace force to the region.
"International intervention and international forces won't solve the problem. They can only serve the Palestinian interest to try to impose pressure on Israel and that's something we cannot accept," he told Army Radio.