Israel was accused of violating international law after troops blew up scores of apartments in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile Damascus threatened to attack Jewish settlers living in the occupied Golan Heights if Israel launched further attacks on Syrian soil like the one earlier this month. Some 2,000 Palestinians residents of the Gaza town of Al-Zahra were evacuated from their homes as three nearby 13-storey buildings were dynamited at around 2:30 am (0030 GMT) Sunday in a single massive explosion. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat called the demolition a "war crime", adding that more than 140 apartments had been destroyed. "What the Israeli army has done this morning -- destroying three housing projects -- is a war crime and a major violation of the Geneva Convention," Erakat told AFP. United Nations envoy Terje Roed-Larsen also "strongly deplored" the demolitions. "Destroying property as a punitive measure is a clear violation of the rules of international law," he said in a statement. "Such actions are also counterproductive towards Israel's legitimate security concerns, for they foster anger and despair among Palestinians." However the Israelis were as usually unrepentant, with one senior source saying that plans to demolish the buildings had been drawn up 11 months ago but had been put on hold to allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) time to stop Palestinian fighters from using them as observation posts. Also in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, at least one Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of three buildings after they were blown up by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip town of al-Zahra Oct. 26, 2003. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)