Israel launches fresh attacks on Gaza

Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the five years since the intifada erupted after then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon walked across the disputed Al-Aqsa mosque compound site in Jerusalem on September 28, 2000.

Despite a marked decline in bloodshed since Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas came to power in January, an informal truce has proved less than watertight, ushering the uprising into a sixth year with continued attacks and reprisals.

Israel escalated its offensive against Palestinian rocket strikes overnight in the Gaza Strip, as warplanes carried out raids and artillery pounded the territory for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war.

Apache helicopter gunships slammed missiles into offices owned by Abbas's ruling Fatah party as pilots sent rockets screeching into Palestinian security offices elsewhere in Gaza City, although there were no reports of casualties.

In Cairo, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat on Wednesday called on US President George W. Bush to intervene to defuse the cycle of violence.

"Things are slipping out of hand and I believe it is high time for a direct third party intervention," Erakat told reporters after Abbas met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"We believe at this stage that a third party -- maybe President Bush, maybe others in the quartet, can a play a role ... to begin a de-escalation of this process," he said.

The quartet of top diplomatic players -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- drafted the "roadmap" peace blueprint which all parties have vowed to revive following the Gaza pullout.

The Palestinian Authority has proved unwilling or incapable of stopping militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad firing rockets into the Jewish state in a relentless cycle of violence that flared on Friday.

"Far from wanting to stop its terrorist attacks, Hamas is looking to multiply them in Judea and Samaria," Israel's Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim warned, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.

"We will not tolerate Hamas sowing terror from Gaza as this area is now entirely under Palestinian control and we are determined to respond to any attacks," he added.