Israel raids camp amid doubt over Korei

Palestinian medics said six Palestinians were killed, including an eight-year-old boy, and more than 40 people — among them eight children — were wounded during all-night gun battles as assault helicopters flew overhead.

On the stormy Palestinian political Front, Korei maintained his public silence in what appeared to be a dispute with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat over security powers crucial to a revival of West Asia peacemaking stalled by violence. Palestinian officials said Korei threatened to resign after a session of parliament, called on Thursday to ratify an emergency government, was cancelled amid Opposition from a number of lawmakers to the idea of forming a crisis cabinet.

‘‘Mediation efforts will continue to narrow differences between Abu Ala and President Arafat,’’ a Palestinian official said, using Korei’s nom de guerre.

He said members of the Central Committee of Arafat’s Fatah faction were engaged in ‘‘telephone diplomacy’’ with Korei. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a senior Arafat aide, described the operation in Rafah as a ‘‘war crime and human catastrophe’’.

An Israeli field commander said the Army had uncovered more than 70 tunnels in Rafah since the start of the uprising and had met tough resistance from gunmen firing anti-tank rockets and hurling grenades in the latest incursion codenamed ‘‘root canal’’.

He said the military now ‘‘has information about an attempt or a plan to raise the level of smuggling to include anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and our aim is to prevent that’’.

Shoulder-held missiles could pose a threat to Israeli helicopters and warplanes that have carried out dozens of attacks on militants and their leaders.

If smuggled from Gaza to the West Bank, such weapons could endanger civilian aircraft at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport. In Ramallah, officials said Korei and Arafat were at odds over the President’s decision to dismiss Interior Minister Nasser Youssef, who would have security powers crucial to a US-backed peace ‘‘road map’’.

Youssef angered Arafat by boycotting a Cabinet swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. Palestinian sources said Youssef had not wanted to take up his duties without a parliamentary vote to lend legitimacy to any security measures he might implement.

Arafat’s reluctance to yield security control was a major factor behind the decision by Korei’s predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas, to resign as prime minister last month. Israel has demanded that Korei’s government rein in militants. Palestinian officials, accusing Israel of failing to carry out its commitments under the road map, say such a crackdown could lead to civil war.

Arafat declared a state of emergency on Sunday after Israeli ministers renewed calls to ‘‘remove’’ him following a suicide bombing that killed 20 people in Israel. (Reuters)