GAZA, 8 March 2004 — In one of the bloodiest incursions in recent memory, Israeli soldiers killed 14 Palestinians including three young boys in early morning raids in the Gaza Strip yesterday. Thirteen of the 14 victims of the operation at the Nusseirat and neighboring Bureij refugee camps were buried in a mass ceremony in a nearby cemetery in the afternoon.

Palestinian medical sources said that three boys, aged eight, 12 and 15, were among those killed around the entrance to the neighboring camps. More than 80 other people were wounded, they added.

Palestinians vowed to strike at the heart of Israel as some 10,000 mourners gathered at the funerals in central Gaza for the victims of the massive Israeli Army operation.

The crowds chanted: “Revenge, revenge” and “Our answer will be in Tel Aviv.”

More than 100,000 residents are crammed into the two impoverished camps. The Hamas movement said earlier that nine of its fighters were killed in the operation that Israel said was carried out to “prevent terrorist attacks carried out against Israeli targets.” Although none of the senior Hamas leaders addressed the crowds, one masked Hamas gunman said by loudspeaker that retaliatory attacks would be carried out “as soon as possible in any place.”

Some 2,000 Palestinians also staged a protest against the raid in the West Bank town of Nablus, chanting that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel “Sharon is the biggest terrorist in the world.”

“Israel will pay heavy price for the crimes against our people,” they added.

Ismail Haniya, a leader of Hamas in Gaza, earlier vowed that the killings would “not pass without punishment.” “This massacre will only make our people stronger and more determined to continue the resistance,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Yasser Arafat is to hold talks in coming days with Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman about Israeli plans to evacuate most Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian leader’s national security adviser said yesterday.

Jibril Rajoub, who recently returned from a visit to Egypt, said officials in Cairo had emphasized that any Israeli pullout must be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority.

“Their position is clear. That is, the evacuation must be conducted through coordination with the PA in terms of guaranteeing the imposition of law and order following an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” Rajoub told Voice of Palestine radio.

“The Egyptians are worried also that the withdrawal from Gaza will be the first, as well as the last one ... Minister Omar Suleiman will pay a visit soon to the PA and will convene with brother Abu Ammar (Arafat) to exchange views on this matter.”

In an interview with the Al-Quds newspaper, Rajoub said the meeting would be in the “coming days”.

“Gaza is vital for the Egyptian national security and therefore Egypt has always been the caretaker of the idea of an independent Palestinian state as a necessary ingredient for settling the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Suleiman helped mediate a seven-week cease-fire by the Palestinian armed factions last summer and has been at the center of similar efforts in recent months.

The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, is understood to have visited Egypt in February to discuss the Israeli evacuation from Gaza.