Huge Israeli raid on Hamas chief in Gaza kills 12 in blow to peace "roadmap".

(From Agence France Presse)

The Israeli army killed 12 Palestinians, including a two-year-old child and its target, a wanted Hamas militant chief, in a major raid on Gaza City, the day after the release of a new peace plan.

Hamas leader Yusef Abu Hin, 38, and his brothers Ayman, 30, and Mahmud, 29, also members of the hardline Islamic faction, died when troops dynamited the four-story building where they had held out for 15 hours under the fire of Israeli tanks, infantry and helicopter gunships that killed nine other people.

The casualties included a two-year-old boy, a teenager and at least two other Hamas gunmen.

Seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in the assault, which began before dawn and dealt a blow to peace hopes spawned the day before when international diplomats unveiled a long-awaited "roadmap" to ending the 31-month conflict.

The army, which invaded Gaza City's densely populated Shajaiya district with 60 tanks and armoured vehicles, managed to evacuate dozens of other terrified people from the building before blowing it up.

Tanks shelled the building where the wanted Hamas chief was holed up and Apache helicopters fired rockets, witnesses said. Another brother, Fadel Abu Hin, told AFP around 50 women and children had been trapped inside.