Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - condemning a Monday IDF operation in northern Gaza was a "loathsome massacre carried out, of all days, on the first day of Id al-Fitr," the holiday marking the end of Ramadan - has ordered the deployment of more than 20,000 security forces para-militaries and police throughout the Strip as soon as the holiday ends at the end of the week.

Abbas ordered the commanders of the security forces in Gaza affiliated with Fatah to deploy the men, who are loyal to Abbas rather than Hamas.

One of Abbas' advisers claimed that no such order has been issued, but several security forces commanders admitted to Haaretz that the order exists. They added that should the deployment take place, it is designed to convey a message to Hamas and restore Abbas' control over the Gaza Strip, even at the cost of a confrontation with Hamas' operations force, which has more than 5,000 soldiers.

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In the Monday clash in the northern Gaza Strip, a reconnaissance unit from the Givati infantry brigade launched a pre-dawn ambush between Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia. The IDF team identified, and opened fire on, a group of armed men, hitting 10 of them and killing at least seven.

The IDF said it was operating against Palestinian militants who were on a mission to launch Qassam rockets at southern Israel.

Abbas called on the international community to intervene to prevent a further escalation in the situation.

Local residents said IDF fire initially killed three gunmen who were returning from paying a condolence call at the mourning tent set up by the family of a militant killed in a previous incident. They mistakenly thought the shooting was coming from the home of the al-Bassiuni family, one of whose children was killed two days earlier by gunfire from a member of the Shindari family. Other militants in the tent began firing at the house, townspeople said.

After realizing their mistake, the militants redirected their fire toward the IDF troops, who were no longer operating in undercover mode, and a gun battle ensued, the residents said.

When the smoke cleared, seven Palestinians were dead and some 20 wounded, a Palestinian Health Ministry official said. The official blamed IDF gunfire for all the casualties, basing his account on information from ambulance crews at the scene.

Four of the dead were armed and one, Ata Shindari, was a senior member of the Popular Resistance Committees. The PRC, an umbrella organization of militant groups in Gaza, said that Shindari, who commanded the group's rocket-launching operation, appeared to have been the target of the operation.

A group spokesman, Abu Abir, said that Shindari and one of his brothers were killed by the IDF, and vowed revenge against Israel. "This is the calm before the storm," he said.