Meanwhile, the spiritual leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, is vowing to avenge Israel’s attack on Gaza over the weekend that wounded him and 14 others. On Saturday, an Israeli F-16 dropped a quarter ton bomb on a Gaza neighborhood.

About 3,000 students marched in Gaza City yesterday in support of Sheikh Yassin. Hamas vowed revenge for the attack and said that Israel had opened the “gates of hell”.

Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, warned that Hamas leaders were now “marked for death.

Israel sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip overnight.