JERUSALEM, 5 October 2004 — Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei yesterday condemned what he called international indifference to Palestinian suffering as the Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip went on unabated.

At least 65 Palestinians have been killed in the five-day offensive, making it the deadliest Israeli incursion into Gaza in more than four years. Seven people died in yesterday’s violence, including four fighters and a 14-year-old girl who residents said was shot as she baked bread with her mother in their garden.

Meanwhile in southern Gaza, Palestinian residents said a four-year-old boy Louai Al-Najar was killed by tank fire as he stood in the doorway to his house near the town of Khan Younis.

Also yesterday, a spat between Israel and a top UN official in the region escalated after the UN official acknowledged that some of his Palestinian employees were probably members of fighter groups.

Israel invaded northern Gaza last week after a Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said the operation will continue until the rocket attacks stop.

Despite the Israeli campaign, Palestinians managed to fire off two more rockets at Sderot yesterday, slightly wounding one man with shrapnel.

Israeli forces have carved out a 9-kilometer buffer zone in northern Gaza in an attempt to move its towns out of rocket range.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said in a radio address yesterday that the people of Gaza will never surrender. But he hinted that the Palestinians should halt the rocket fire.

“I call on the factions to put the Palestinian high interest above everything ... not to give the occupation any excuse against us,” he said.

The operation has exacted a heavy price on the Palestinians, leaving a wide swath of destruction in the Jebaliya refugee camp and leaving dozens homeless.

Qorei, speaking before a meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet in the West Bank town of Ramallah, criticized the “massive destruction” and called for heavy international pressure on Israel.

“This ugly Israeli crime is taking place in full view of the world, and so far, we have not heard a strong word from the world community that can bring an end to this aggression,” he said.

The United States, European Union and a number of European countries have urged restraint by Israel and raised concerns about civilian casualties.

France condemned the Israeli operation yesterday, while Egypt’s foreign minister urged Israel to stop its “policy of assassination and destruction,” the semiofficial Middle East News Agency reported.

The UN Security Council also called an emergency meeting at the request of Arab nations to consider a resolution demanding an immediate halt to the offensive.

But much of the international reaction has been directed at the Palestinians as well, urging an end to rocket attacks and recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary, described the Western condemnations as “weak and not consistent with the large scale of the aggression.”

“It’s the world’s responsibility to intervene strongly with every possible means, including economic sanctions,” he said.

Analysts cited world “fatigue” with the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the international focus on Iraq for the indifference to the plight of the Palestinians.

“All efforts are concentrated on Iraq,” said Germano Dottori, a political analyst at the Center for Strategic Studies in Rome.

Mark Heller, an analyst at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, said international outrage may be tempered by Israel’s “serious determination” to pull out of Gaza next year.

The rocket attacks threaten to undermine support for Sharon’s withdrawal plan. Israeli officials say the offensive is aimed at clearing the way for the pullout to proceed on schedule next year.

In a separate development yesterday, Israeli officials renewed accusations that the UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees was harboring terrorists.

Israel has demanded the United Nations investigate the actions of its top official in Gaza, Peter Hansen, after the Israeli Army released video taken by an unmanned aircraft flying over the Gaza Strip that Israel said showed Palestinians loading a rocket into a UN vehicle. Hansen sent a letter to Israel yesterday accusing Israel of fabricating the story.

— Additional input from agencies