Mother and Her Four Children Killed During Israeli Incursion

A Palestinian mother and her four children were killed yesterday as they ate breakfast at home during an Israeli military attack in the Gaza Strip.

The violence came despite efforts led by the Egyptians to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the militant groups in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Shortly after 8am yesterday, Meyasar Abu Me'tiq was in her home in the eastern town of Beit Hanoun with her six children. Israeli military vehicles had crossed into Gaza on one of their now frequent incursions and there were reports of heavy gunfire in the area. The Israeli military said it launched an air strike against two men who it said were gunmen approaching the Israeli soldiers.

Shrapnel from the attack appears to have severely damaged the Abu Me'tiq house, and particularly the front door. Four of the children were killed immediately, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights: Saleh, five, Rudeina, four, Hana, three and one-year-old Mes'id. The children's mother, Meyasar, 40, was severely injured and died later. The two other children and 10 others who were nearby were also injured.

"They have wiped out my family," Ahmed Abu Me'tiq told Reuters as his children's bodies were prepared for burial. One armed Palestinian who was outside the house was also killed, another was severely injured. Militants, including those from Hamas, said they fired rockets from Gaza into Israel yesterday.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which produces detailed reports on each incident in the conflict in Gaza, said that the death toll this year was worse so far than the previous three years. It said 312 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza this year, including 197 unarmed civilians of whom 44 were children and another 14 were women. On the Israeli side, at least four civilians and five soldiers have been killed near or in Gaza this year.

"This aggression does not serve efforts being exerted to achieve calm, and it obstructs the peace process," said the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank and is engaged in peace talks with the Israelis.

The Israeli military said it believed the two Palestinian gunmen hit by the air strike were carrying bags on their backs which contained "bombs and explosives". It said there was a large explosion. "As a result ... extensive damage was caused to a house that was near the gunmen and uninvolved civilians were hit," the military said in a statement, placing the blame with Hamas which it said used the civilian population as "human shields".

Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy, yesterday presented Israel with a list of checkpoints and trade restrictions he wants lifted in the West Bank. Blair met Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, and after the meeting one checkpoint was reportedly removed. Israel operates more than 500 barriers in the West Bank.