Seventeen killed in Israel attacks

At least seven Israelis were killed and dozens injured in a series of roadside attacks on buses and cars travelling close to the Egyptian border on Thursday, the deadliest assault on Israeli soil in at least four years.

Four attackers were killed by Israeli soldiers in a shoot-out, a spokeswoman for the army said. Later in the day at least six Palestinians were killed in an Israel airstrike on the Gaza Strip, taking the death toll to at least 17
.Israeli officials said the assailants had crossed into Israel from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, but insisted there was “clear intelligence information” that they originally hailed from the Gaza Strip. “The source of the terror acts is Gaza, and we will act against them with full force and determination,” said Ehud Barak, the defence minister. There was no claim of responsibility from any group in Gaza or Egypt.

Egyptian officials denied the assailants had crossed into Israel from the Sinai.Mr Barak’s warning raised the prospect of a fresh escalation between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza. Israeli jet fighters attacked the Gaza Strip in the early evening. Among those killed was the leader of a militant group known as the Popular Resistance Committees.

Senior Hamas officials said the group had nothing to do with the attacks and accused Israel of exploiting the incident to strike Gaza.

The first Israeli target earlier in the day was a bus driving from the city of Beersheva to Eilat. It was sprayed with gunfire close to the Egyptian border by a group of men who reportedly disguised themselves as soldiers. It was followed by a second shooting attack on another bus. The third incident occurred when an Israeli military vehicle rushing to the scene was hit by a roadside bomb. This was followed by mortar fire, apparently from the Egyptian side of the border, and the launching of at least one anti-tank missile on an Israeli vehicle.

It was unclear how many assailants were involved in the series of attacks. However, the number of targets and the broad spectrum of weapons employed suggest an unusual level of organisation and preparation.

The attacks took place about 20kms north of Eilat, the Israeli Red Sea resort town, on a stretch of road that runs parallel with the Egyptian border.

The Israeli government decided last year to build a new security fence along the border with Egypt, saying it was necessary to stop the flow of illegal migrants into the country and to undermine the smuggling of arms and other goods. The fence, which was estimated to cost at least Shk1bn ($280m), has not yet been completed.