Palestinians' bloodiest day as Israel kills 60

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed 60 people in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the bloodiest day for Palestinians since an uprising against Israeli occupation began in 2000.

Israel, which lost two soldiers, seemed ready to press home its fiercest assault since it pulled troops back to the borders of the coastal enclave in 2005. It blamed Hamas Islamist rocket fire on Israel for provoking four days of fighting, in which dozens of civilians have been among the 95 Palestinians killed.

The U.N. Security Council prepared to meet in New York and a U.N. official in Gaza appealed for international action to end the "inhuman suffering" of its 1.5 million people.

A day after an Israeli official warned Gazans of a "shoah" -- which typically means holocaust -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a sworn enemy of Gaza's Hamas rulers, called it "more than a holocaust".

Aides said it may wreck peace talks that were revived with U.S. backing after collapsing in 2000.

At least 30 of the dead were civilians, among them women and children, said Palestinian doctors working round the clock.

Two Israeli soldiers were also killed and seven wounded, the army said -- its first deaths in Gaza since October. Dozens of Hamas rockets hit Israeli border areas, wounding several people. An Israeli civilian was killed on Wednesday, the first since May.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel was "not happy" civilians were being hurt but blamed Hamas for firing rockets from built-up areas and said it would "pay the price".

His deputy Matan Vilnai earlier said Gaza faced a "shoah" -- a holocaust or catastrophe. On Saturday, he said: "As long as events escalate the chances we will use greater force increase."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat warned: "If Israeli aggression continues, it will bury the peace process in the rubble."

A spokesman for Israel's chief negotiator said: "What Israel is doing in Gaza is fighting terror and it will be continued."

More than 48 rockets and mortars landed on Saturday.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE"

Of the 60 killed, 30 were fighters, according to hospital staff and Hamas, which routed Abbas's Western-backed forces in Gaza in June.

"Uncle, I don't want to die. I want my dad," a toddler screamed as doctors tried to treat burn wounds across her body in Gaza's main Shifa hospital. The girl was injured in a house which the Israeli army said was used to store and make weapons.