Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon has pledged to work to prevent the conflict with the Palestinians from sliding into "total war".
Speaking tonight in a televised address, Mr Sharon added that Israel is to set up buffer zones and obstacles on its borders with the Palestinian territories.
He also swore that Israel would not rest until it has defeated "terrorists" and demanded complete disarmament of all Palestinians.
Mr Sharon repeated his calls for calm before any negotiations can resume.
"I should do everything possible to continue to meet with Palestinian personalities, to take all necessary security measures, to continue my efforts to prevent any escalation and to prevent a slide into total war," he said.
Israeli helicopter gunships and warships attacked security targets across the West Bank and Gaza Strip earlier today in a new wave of reprisals, killing at least eight Palestinians.
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The wreckage of the Voice of Palestine TV headquarters Photo: Reuters
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The second successive day of fierce bombardments came in response to Tuesday's killing of six Israeli soldiers in a Palestinian ambush. This week has seen the heaviest sustained violence yet in a nearly 17-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
Up to 40,000 Palestinians have attended funerals in Gaza in protest at the onslaught. At least 38 Palestinians, including two suicide bombers, and 10 Israelis have been killed since Monday. The violence has left international peace efforts in tatters and prompted talk of all-out war.
Israeli tanks rumbled into a town on the edge of Gaza City in attacks that began shortly after midnight. In a symbolic blow, the army blew up the Voice of Palestine radio-television headquarters.
Six Palestinians, at least one of them a gunman, were killed in an army raid on Rafah in southern Gaza, Palestinian doctors said. About 40 were wounded.
Israeli soldiers shot dead a gunman near an army post in the West Bank and troops shot dead a 27-year-old Palestinian trying to cross at a checkpoint near Ramallah.
Helicopter gunships fired missiles for the second successive night at Mr Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah on the West Bank but the Palestinian president's personal office was not hit and he was unhurt. Israel has said it is not targeting Mr Arafat personally.
"This is an attempt to make the Palestinian people and its leadership kneel, but they don't know that this people and their leadership are a mighty people," Mr Arafat said.
However Israeli spokesman Mr Raanan Gissin said: "This is not a war against the Palestinian people but against terrorism."
The US State Department today appealed to both Israelis and Palestinians to "do their utmost" to avoid an escalation of violence in the region.
He added, however, that "the Palestinian Authority bears a critical responsibility for halting the terror through immediate decisive action."
"Israel's right to defend itself is clear," he insisted.
In New York, the Palestinians demanded an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli bombardments.