15 die in Middle East violence

A girl aged 14 is among 15 people killed over 24 hours in one of the worst outbreaks of violence in 17 months of clashes between militant Palestinians and Israeli forces.

The latest bloodshed began with a suicide bombing yesterday and continued today with Israeli air strikes and tank raids in reprisal on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This morning Israeli helicopter gunships fired three missiles at the office of a militant Islamic group, killing two Palestinians and critically wounding four others, including a 10-year-old girl.

The helicopter assault followed a wave of overnight strikes - in direct response to yesterday's suicide attacks by Palestinian militants, which killed four Israelis. Four more Palestinians were killed, including the 14-year-old girl, a woman aged 37 and a 19-year-old man, when their homes in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza were destroyed in tank bombardments. Three other civilians died in the attacks.

Troops also killed two Palestinians and wounded nine during a gunfight this morning when soldiers tried to enter the Balata Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus, witnesses and hospital officials said. The sudden escalation of violence is a massive blow to international peace efforts.

Pressure is now mounting on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over his failure to end the violence. At the same time each Palestinian attack dents international faith in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's ability to rein in militant groups. Mr Sharon showed no sign of relenting. He said: "My intention is to deliver the hardest of blows to the terrorist groups, in the hope that one day, possibly, there will also be people with whom we can talk."

Palestinian militant groups have pledged to fight on and Mr Arafat remains defiant, telling supporters before the latest surge of violence his people were "mighty and steadfast". "Every Palestinian now feels threatened by Sharon's full-scale war and therefore people have the right to defend themselves," said an aide to Mr Arafat.