More than 23 Palestinians have been killed and over 100 wounded in this week’s new spiral of violence. The bloodshed comes a week after the Aqaba Summit for Middle East peace, in which Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged their commitment to follow the new peace plan, known as the roadmap.

In the last 48 hours, Israeli military forces have led five assassination raids over Gaza. Two separate airstrikes on the densely populated al-Shujaiya and al-Zuitoun neighborhoods in Gaza City killed ten Palestinians, including women and children, on Wednesday when Israeli helicopter gunship missiles struck the city. The attack followed a retaliatory suicide bombing in west Jerusalem, which left 16 Israelis dead and many wounded.

On Thursday Israel continued its strikes on Hamas, leaving seven Palestinians dead. Israeli forces fired missiles at a civilian car carrying senior Hamas member Yasser Taha, his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and 3-year-old daughter. The family and four civilian bystanders died in the explosion.

These attacks are the beginning of what Israel says is an escalation of its incursions on Hamas. The government-owned Israel Radio said the army had been ordered “to completely wipe out” Hamas and that every member is considered a target. Israeli Prime Minister Sharon says he must take matters into his own hands to fight Palestinian factions, such as Hamas.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemned the airstrikes, calling them “terrorist attacks.” The leaders accuse the Israeli government of trying to sabotage peace efforts by undercutting Abbas and making it impossible for him to resume cease-fire talks with Hamas and other groups. Abbas has so far ruled out using force against fellow Palestinians.

In response to the resurgence of violence and the halt in peace efforts, the Bush administration made plans for Secretary of State Colin Powell and other envoys to travel to the Middle East to seek mutual concessions from Israel and the Palestinians. The goal is to try and salvage the unraveling peace plan. However, many wonder whether it is possible after this week’s violence and vows of retaliation from both the Israeli government and Hamas.