World Gone Mad

ABC News reports that "Israel's Army has killed at least 19 Palestinians in the heaviest raid in the Gaza Strip for years as tanks and infantry thrust into Rafah refugee camp... the 19 deaths overloaded Rafah Hospital's morgue and five bodies were shifted to vegetable freezers in a nearby market for preservation...

Before the ground assault, Israeli helicopter gunships killed seven Palestinians, at least three of them gunmen and another a civilian, outside a mosque, witnesses said. Other Palestinians, including at least one fighter, were shot dead during street battles. A teenage brother and sister were among the dead. Palestinian medics say soldiers held up ambulances that were trying to evacuate wounded...

Amnesty International, in a new report, said Israel had destroyed more than 3,000 Palestinian houses since 2000. It said demolitions were "punitive" and done without military necessity in most cases, constituting a war crime under international law."

Meanwhile, cheered with wild chants of "four more years," President Bush told a Jewish audience that Israel "has every right to defend itself from terror" and that Palestinians must renounce violence. The president got two dozen standing ovations in an address before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israel lobbying group.