A Palestinian policeman looks at a dead colleague at the hospital

NABLUS, February 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Exploiting world pre-occupation with mounting Anglo-American threats to unleash war on Iraq, Israeli occupation forces killed eleven Palestinians Wednesday, February 19, including a mentally ill man.

The Israeli troops gunned down Nasser Abu Safieh, 32, in the West Bank town of Nablus claiming he defied the curfew clamped on the town.

Ten Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops early Wednesday during a major incursion into the eastern part of Gaza City, while an 11th blew himself up, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

About 50 Israeli tanks along with two bulldozers and two helicopters penetrated about two kilometers (over a mile) into Sadjaiyeh in the eastern part of Gaza City late Tuesday, February 18, Palestinian security officials said.

They said Israeli troops destroyed two metal workshops and a house, and searched several other houses as exchanges of fire took place with Palestinians.

The Israeli soldiers also seriously damaged a school sponsored by Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.

The Israeli army spokesman said in a communiqué that the six-hour operation had been launched following the deaths of four Israeli soldiers Saturday when their tank was blown up in the Gaza Strip.

He claimed that four workshops used to make mortars and rockets had been destroyed.

The Israeli army has in recent months destroyed many workshops, claiming the Palestinians used them to produce mortar shells or Qassam rockets that were fired into Israeli territory.

During the operation, Israeli troops had sustained heavy fire from the Palestinians who used an anti-tank rocket and grenades, alleged the spokesman.

No soldiers had been hurt in the operation, he said, warning that "the Israeli army will continue to act against the infrastructure of terrorism in the Gaza Strip."

A Palestinian attacker belonging to the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas blew himself up beside an Israeli tank.

Abdelkarim Bakroun, 22, belonged to the military wing of Hamas, said Hamas leaders.

Israeli troops have slain eight Hamas activists since Sunday, seven of them in the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian youth inspects the rubble of a metal workshop blown up by Israeli troops

The latest deaths brought the toll of almost 29 months of the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation to 2,973, including 2,223 Palestinians and 694 Israelis.

The violence came after a day of talks in London where mediators from the U.S., the European Union, Russia and the U.N. met an Israeli and Palestinian delegation to discuss a "road map" for Middle East peace, reported the BB news online.

Britain has been pressing for quick progress on the issue to send a signal to the Arab world that international interest in Middle East peace talks was not diminishing.

Speaking at a meeting of the main aid donors to the Palestinians, also in London, U.N. Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the Quartet should present the final plans to the Israelis and Palestinians as soon as possible.

"The road map is the only available political tool which can bring us out of the abyss and back to the negotiating table," he said.

"Progress will depend upon its credibility as a partner with both Israel and the international community," he said.

Participants at the donors' meeting have tied their economic assistance to political reform of the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinians are reportedly to ask for $1.5bn from international donors to put their economy back on its feet.

Last month, Israel banned the Palestinian team from leaving the West Bank, forcing the conference organizers in London to set up a video link in order to allow the meeting to go ahead.

This time Israel has allowed the Palestinians to travel and it has also sent a mid-level delegation of its own.