Israeli forces attacked the northern Gaza Strip with a barrage of airstrikes and artillery fire today, killing at least nine Palestinians, including six civilians who had been enjoying a family picnic at the beach.
The violence raised tensions already heightened by the death of a top militant commander in the Hamas-led government in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier.
Tens of thousands of people, including angry gunmen defiantly firing in the air, packed a southern Gaza soccer stadium for the man's funeral.
The death toll in Gaza was the highest since Hamas took office in March following its victory in legislative elections.
The Israeli army said its attacks targeted areas in the northern Gaza Strip used by Palestinian militants to fire home-made rockets at Israel. But one artillery strike appeared to go dramatically off course.
The shells struck a large crowd of people at a beachside picnic, killing six people and wounding more than 30 others, Palestinian Health Minister Bassem Naim said. A woman and two young children, six months old and 18 months old, were among the dead, medical officials said.
All of the dead were believed to be related. The barrage scattered body parts along the beach, destroyed a tent and sent bloody sheets flying into the air. A panicked crowd quickly gathered, screaming and running around in confusion.
One tearful man held the limp body of what appeared to be a girl or young woman. "Muslims, look at this," he cried.
In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he called a "bloody genocide" in Gaza and called on the international community, including the United States, Europe and the Security Council, to intervene.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the attack showed "the Zionist occupation insists on killing ... and does not distinguish between civilian children and freedom fighters."
The army said it had determined that aircraft and gunboats had not fired the artillery that struck the picnic, but that ground forces might have been the source. It said military chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz ordered a halt in artillery attacks in the area while an investigation was conducted.
"We regret any harm caused to innocent civilians," said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman.
He said Israel offered medical assistance, including evacuation to hospitals in Israel, to the wounded. Israel frequently targets sites used by Palestinian militants to fire rockets toward Israel.
Israel carried out at least three airstrikes, including one attack that killed three militants after they fired a rocket into Israel. The men were identified as members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a small group that is responsible for much of the rocket fire.
The group's leader, Jamal Abu Samhadana, was killed in a separate airstrike late Thursday. Abu Samhadana had recently served as commander of the Hamas government's private militia.
Earlier tens of thousands of Palestinians, some firing in the air and calling for blood, flocked to a Gaza Strip stadium to bury Abu Samhadana, the highest-profile militant commander that Israel has killed in four years.
Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, interpreted the attack as an assault on its government, and has warned Israel that Abu Samhadana's death would be avenged.