Agence France Presse

Gaza City, March 7:

At least 14 Palestinians were killed and some 81 wounded early today as scores of Israeli troops targeted two refugee camps in central Gaza, hours after an elaborate Palestinian suicide mission was botched.

The radical Islamist group Hamas said nine of its fighters were killed in clashes at the al-Bureij and neighbouring Nusseirat refugee camps while hospital officials said three boys, aged eight, 12 and 15, were among the dead.

Witnesses said around 30 tanks and jeeps, with aerial cover from two Apache helicopters, secured the entrance of the Bureij camp in central Gaza at around 3:00 am (0100 GMT). After marksmen took over several tall buildings at the entrance to the camp, the army announced a curfew by loudspeaker and told residents to stay indoors.

An Israeli army source said troops had refrained from entering the centre of Bureij as 'the area where we are operating in is where the terror cells are located.'

Residents said some 1,500 people then surged to the entrance where fierce clashes broke out. They were joined by residents from Nusseirat who also pelted troops with missiles and explosives, triggering exchanges of fire. Palestinian and Israeli sources said anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, Molotov cocktails and stones were hurled at the troops, without causing injuries among the Israelis.

The Palestinians were all killed by live Israeli fire, the medical sources said. Those injured were either hit by live bullets or shrapnel.

In a statement confirming the end of the operation, the Israeli army said its aim was 'to prevent terrorist attacks carried out against Israeli targets, including planting explosive devices and firing anti-tank missiles.'

Hamas said six members of its armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, were killed in Nusseirat while another three were killed in Bureij. Among those killed was a local leader of the Brigades, 44-year-old Hassan Zahot. 'A new crime has been committed by the Zionists but the resistance will not be broken,' the group said in a statement.

Israeli army chief of staff General Moshe Yaalon said 'other offensive operations' would be launched as part of a recent intensification. Government spokesman Avi Pazner told AFP the operation was designed to 'prevent anti-Israeli attacks emanating from this ... center of terrorism.'

'Our objective is to reduce to a minimum the number of attacks and ensure their failure even before they begin.' Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat condemned the operation as 'a dangerous escalation.'

'The Israeli government is continuing its policy which is aimed at destroying the peace process. The issue is not withdrawal from the Gaza Strip but destroying the Gaza Strip.'