Three US envoys killed by Gaza road bomb in first intifada attack on Americans

Three Americans in a diplomatic convoy were killed yesterday by a remote-control explosion in the Gaza Strip, the first time Americans have been targeted in the intifada since it began three years ago. The killings are expected to have serious repercussions for a conflict in which the US remains the only broker listened to by both sides.

The Americans' four-wheel-drive was easily recognisable from its diplomatic licence plates. Explosives buried under a dirt road were set off as the vehicle slowed to negotiate the many craters that dotted the surface. Last night, Israeli tanks firing heavy machine-guns were reported to have raced to the scene as US officials arrived to investigate. "When I got there, I saw two bodies on the ground," said Munir al-Dweik, a Palestinian on the scene moments after the explosion. "I saw pieces of flesh strewn about, on the ground, there was one leg, with a black leather boot."

The American victims appear to have included bodyguards. A rifle and a pistol were found in the remains of their four-wheel-drive. One Palestinian witness said he saw a fourth American inside, who was hurt but able to walk.

The convoy was at first identified as belonging to John Wolf, the US envoy sent to oversee the road-map peace plan backed by George Bush. There were reports that the victims included CIA officers. But the US later said that the men were diplomats on their way to interview Palestinian candidates for Fulbright scholarships to study in America.

Ariel Sharon's Israeli government has repeatedly tried to equate its conflict with the Palestinians with President Bush's "war on terror". Palestinians complain that the US follows this line. The attack is likely to push Mr Bush further in that direction. Yesterday, Mr Bush said: "Palestinian authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms. The failure to undertake these reforms and dismantle the terrorist organisations constitutes the greatest obstacle to achieving the Palestinian people's dream of statehood."

The main Palestinian militant factions in Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, yesterday said their policy was still not one of targeting Americans. There were unconfirmed reports of a claim of responsibility from a group known as the People's Resistance Committees, militants from various factions. The group is believed to have been responsible for the destruction of four Israeli tanks in the past. It also initially rejected the ceasefire agreed by the main factions that held for six weeks over the summer. The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia, condemned the killings and ordered an investigation.