52 Palestinians dead in Gaza

Yesterday, Israeli troops targeted the crowded Jabaliya refugee camp in the hunt for militants. Tanks, supported by helicopters, moved into the area just after midnight and by noon yesterday, troops had pushed nearly two miles inside Gaza.

The head of emergency services at the Palestinian ministry of health said yesterday's death toll was the worst in Gaza from a single day of fighting for five years. At least three women and nine children, ranging in age from 13 months to 17 years, were reported among the dead

Hospital officials said two dead children remain still unidentified in hospital amidst the chaos. Most died while inside their homes, from tank shells or missile strikes.

Among the dead were a 16-year-old girl and her 14-year-old brother, who were found dead after tank shelling and missile strikes on Jabaliya camp. A 16-year-old girl was killed and her baby brother was seriously injured while watching television, and two sisters died when their kitchen roof collapsed.

Abu Alaa, 40, a resident of Jabaliya, said: "We are in the middle of a total war. We hear the rockets and the explosions everywhere. We cannot leave our homes. They're shooting at everything that moves."

Sami Ali Oush, 25, a student who lives in Jabaliya, said: "We have many injured, but the ambulances cannot reach them because the Israeli soldiers are everywhere."

In Ramallah, on the West Bank, about 300 Palestinians from the main political factions marched through the streets, carrying pictures of children killed by the Israeli attacks. Senior Palestinian negotiators warned peace talks with Israel could not continue.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, who is from the Fatah party, called for "international protection for the Palestinian people".

"It is unthinkable that Israel's reaction to Palestinian rocket attacks - which we condemn - can be so terrible and frightening," he said.

The Israeli army maintained the raid was a routine incursion that did not represent a change in policy. But senior the possibility of a bigger invasion is to be discussed at an Israeli cabinet meeting today following meetings of senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem last night.

Ze'ev Boim, an Israeli cabinet minister, said: "We must step up and intensify our actions, we must exact a heavy price from them, we must strike at those who fire their rockets and their commanders, we must hit their infrastructure, and we must uphold the sanctions until they beg us to stop, until their suffering cries out to heaven." However, pressure is also growing inside Israel to negotiate with Hamas for a ceasefire, a tactic so far shunned by Israeli leaders. They condemn Hamas, which seized control of Gaza last summer, as a terrorist organisation.

Both Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, are to visit the region this week to try to push talks forward.

The latest round of fighting has now claimed more than 70 lives, including at least 20 civilians. The violence began with an Israeli air strike on Wednesday that killed five senior Hamas militants, which was followed by a barrage of rockets from Gaza.