GAZA CITY (AFP) - Fourteen Palestinians were killed in a major Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip as Israeli MPs were to debate a fiercely contested plan to quit the territory after 37 years of occupation.
The dead, among them an eight-year-old boy, were killed in either air strikes or from gunfire and tank shelling the town of Khan Yunis. Most died when the army fired at least four air-to-ground missiles at the area, one of which hit a national security service position, security officials said.
Palestinian medics said some 70 people had also been injured since fighting broke out, while Israeli military sources reported that two soldiers were lightly injured during the operation.
A spokesman for the Israeli army said "military activity" was heightened in the area after Palestinians had fired dozens of mortar rounds against Jewish settlements in recent days.
The deaths raised to 4,528 the number of people killed since the second intifada began in September 2000, including 3,498 Palestinians and 956 Israelis.
The latest bout of bloodshed came just hours after the Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a compensation package for settlers to be evacuated from their homes as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon`s so-called disengagement plan.
Parliament is due to vote Tuesday on the overall plan, which will see the evacuation of all 8,000 Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip as well as several hundred settlers from four enclaves in the northern West Bank next year.
Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appealed for members of the main governing Likud party to put aside their fierce differences over the proposals and give unequivocal backing to the premier.
"I appeal to members of Likud to come together as one behind the head of the government to approve the plan to pull out of Gaza which is supported by a majority of Israelis, a majority in the Knesset and a majority within the Likud," Olmert told public radio.
"This plan can bring hope to the people of Israel and Mr Sharon is concerned above all else today with unifying Likud in order to apply this decision: leave Gaza," he added.
Likud, Israel`s main right-wing party, has been riven by divisions over the disengagement plan.
Sharon, who was formerly seen as the ultimate champion of the settlers, now argues that a pullout from Gaza, where only 8,000 of the 240,000 settlers live, is vital for national security. By quitting Gaza, he also hopes to cement Israel`s control over much larger settlement blocs in the West Bank.
But up to 18 of Likud`s 40 MPs are expected to vote against the plan on Tuesday evening at the end of the two-day debate, with commentators predicting that the party could then fracture.
Sharon is virtually assured of victory in the vote, thanks in large part to a decision by the left-wing opposition Labour and Yahad parties to support the premier`s proposals.
Labour leader Shimon Peres said Israel would face a catastrophe if the pullout from Gaza, captured during the 1967 Arab Israeli war, is blocked.
"What is happening today is massively important. If it fails it`s a catastrophe," he told journalists.
"We have two military people for every (Gaza) settler. The Israeli people and economy have to pay for that. It`s an unreasonable and impossible situation for us and the Palestinians."
Security has been dramatically heightened around the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem over fears of an attack by extremist opponents.
Dozens of municipal workers could be seen unloading yellow metal crowd control barriers, while a military helicopter was circling overhead.
Scores of demonstrators were also assembled outside the builing, bearing slogans such as "Sharon is ripping the nation apart" and "Jews don`t expel Jews".
Their placards jostled for speace alongside pro-disengagement banners such which read "Get out of Gaza immediately".
Among the demonstrators was a chorus line of teenage girls who were practising a cheerleader routine, singing: "I am a Jew and I vote against!"
10/25/2004 - 12:58 GMT - AFP