The streets of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour are quiet this morning, as are most cities and villages across the West Bank and Gaza. After a day in which 12 Palestinians were killed, two of them children under the age of 12, it is a day of mourning and burial.

Palestinians took to the streets in many cities after a helicopter fired a missile at a seven-story apartment building yesterday afternoon in the heart of Nablus, one of the most heavily populated Palestinian areas in the West Bank.

Following the attack in Bethlehem last evening, some Palestinians fired towards the area where Israeli soldiers are deployed on the outskirts of Beit Jala, below the settlement of Gilo. The Israeli response was quick and heavy.

In fact, last night our area experienced the heaviest night of machine gun fire and tank shelling that we've had in about two months, off and on from 7:30 PM until 3:00 AM this morning. Helicopters hovered overhead for many hours, increasing the sense of fear among people. In Beit Jala, at least two homes were completely destroyed. Homes being repaired were damaged again, and windows and doors were shattered and water tanks destroyed in many new houses. Numerous people received light wounds.