Israeli warplanes pounded the Gaza Strip and raided the Egyptian border, killing militants blamed for coordinated gun, grenade and bomb attacks that left eight Israelis dead.
Six Israeli civilians -- including two women -- as well as a soldier and a police officer died after the attacks Thursday in the desert near the Red Sea resort of Eilat. At least 26 others were injured.
Within hours of the attacks, Israel took aim at the Gaza-based militant group it accused of responsibility, launching air raids that killed six in the southern city of Rafah, medics said.
Four of the dead were top members of the Popular Resistance Committees, but one was a toddler, they said. The identity of the sixth was unclear.
The PRC confirmed its leader and several others had been killed in the Rafah strike, and vowed bitter revenge "against everything and everyone".
An Egyptian police officer and two conscripts were then killed when an Israeli plane fired a rocket near the border at militants it was tracking after the attacks near Eilat, Egyptian security officials said.
Two policemen were wounded in the air raid, they said.
"If terror organisations think they can harm our citizens and get away with it, they will soon learn how wrong they are," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address.
"We will make them pay a price, a very heavy price."
World leaders were quick to condemn the violence, with the White House denouncing the "brutal terrorist attacks" and UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressing grave concern about an "escalation" of violence in the region.
The Israeli reprisals came after gunmen near Eilat ambushed two buses and a car, detonated a bomb under a military jeep, and fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at another vehicle.
Major General Tal Russo, head of the Israeli army\'s southern command, said the first attack saw three militants armed with explosives, guns and grenades open fire on a bus packed with passengers heading to Eilat.
They fled the scene and shortly afterwards, detonated a roadside bomb which hit a military vehicle that was rushing to the scene of the first attack, Israeli officials said.
They then opened fire on a second bus and a car, killing the bus driver.
In another incident, an RPG was fired at cars in the area, killing five.
Israeli troops quickly locked down the area and engaged in a running gunbattle with the militants that ended with seven of the attackers killed, Russo told reporters.
Media reports suggested up to 20 militants may have been involved in the spate of attacks, some of whom were believed to have fled into Egypt\'s Sinai peninsula. The military had no official comment on the number involved.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attackers were Palestinians from Gaza who had reached Israel via Sinai.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak also said the attacks originated in Gaza, and vowed "to act against them with all our strength and determination".
However, the Gaza Strip\'s Hamas rulers issued a statement denying any involvement in the bloodshed.
Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza overnight killing a teenager and wounding 17 people, Palestinian medical sources said. An Israeli military spokesman refused to confirm or deny that there were several raids.
Several hours after the air strike on Rafah, the army said Gaza militants fired four rockets into southern Israel, three of which were intercepted by the Jewish state\'s anti-missile Iron Dome system
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