Israeli attack on Gaza City kills 12

A force of around 50 Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships entered Gaza City from three directions last night killing 12 Palestinians in the deepest incursion in more than two years of fighting, witnesses said.

Troops exchanged fire with dozens of Palestinian gunmen during the raid, in which 51 were wounded, eight critically, hospital officials said. A missile fired by an Israeli helicopter started a huge fire in the Shajaiyeh neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.

Israeli forces destroyed 14 workshops where they said weapons were made, before withdrawing at daybreak.

The raid was the second Israeli incursion into a Palestinian-controlled area of the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

It came just three days before a general election that is expected to give Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a clear victory. So comfortable is his apparent lead that thoughts have already turned to the kind of coalition government he might form.

A weekend poll for Ma'ariv newspaper predicted that Mr Sharon's Likud Party would win the most seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, with 32, while the main opposition, the Labour Party, led by Amram Mitzna, would win 19.

If the polls are right – the pollsters have been wrong before, and many voters are still undecided – it would represent a vote of confidence in Mr Sharon's hardline approach to handling the conflict with the Palestinians. But a poll for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper found most voters unhappy with his handling of the economy.

In many ways, the election has turned into an approval vote for Mr Sharon. He has been Likud's greatest electoral asset. But there is still a problem. The polls suggest, for most voters, the ideal outcome would be a "national unity" coalition of Likud, Labour and a third party, Shinui, with Mr Sharon as Prime Minister.

Mr Mitzna says Labour would not serve under Mr Sharon. That would force Mr Sharon into a coalition with the far right, and probably with religious parties too.

An alliance with religious parties would be unpopular with the secular majority, and Mr Sharon says he does not want a coalition with the far right. He is still thought to be keen to secure a coalition with Labour.

Mr Sharon says he will pursue the "two-state solution" called for by the US President, George Bush, which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state. The far right would oppose that.