The Israel Defense Forces canceled a planned air raid on the home of a militant in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday after several hundred Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the building, an IDF spokesman and witnesses said.

Palestinian sources called the protest the first of its kind to have in effect prevented an air strike by the IAF. An IDF spokesman said the strike had been called off so to avoid inflicting civilian casualties.

Hundreds of Palestinians formed a human shield around the home of the militant in Beit Lahia late Saturday to prevent an Israel Air Force air strike on the building, residents said.

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An IDF spokesman confirmed the raid had been called off because of the protest.

"The attack plan was canceled because of the people there," the spokesman said. "We differentiate between innocent people and terrorists."

The spokesman vowed Israel would continue its strikes against militants, and accused gunmen of using the civilians in the camp as human shields.

Earlier Saturday, two Palestinians, ages 16 and 20, were killed and five others wounded Saturday by Israel Defense Forces fire in Beit Lahiya. Three IDF soldiers were lightly injured by an anti-tank missile while operating against Qassam rocket infrastructure in Beit Lahia.

People flocked to the home of Mohammed al-Baroud after he received a warning from the army late Saturday giving him 30 minutes to leave the house. Barhoud is a commander in the Popular Resistance Committees in the town who is in charge of firing homemade rockets at Israel. Crowds of people stood on the rooftop and in the yard of the home.

Israel routinely orders occupants out of homes ahead of air strikes on suspected weapons-storage facilities, saying it wants to avoid casualties. The incident in Beit Lahia was the first time Palestinians have tried to prevent such an airstrike.

The crowd chanted anti-Israel and anti-American slogans, and people said they were prepared to give their lives to protect the home. "Yes to martyrdom. No to surrender," the crowd chanted.

"We came here to protect this fighter, to protect his house and to prove that we are capable of defeating this Zionist policy," said Nizar Rayan, a local Hamas leader who joined the protest,

The IDF had no immediate comment.

Six Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on the western Negev over the weekend. Four of the rockets landed in and around Kibbutz Be'eri, one damaging the windows of the dining room and the others landing in open areas.

The army said troops fired at a group of armed militants, though it is unclear whether the 16-year-old was among them. Earlier, troops identified an armed Palestinian approaching them, opened fire and killed the man, named as 20-year-old Said Hajouj.

One Palestinian was killed and 30 wounded Friday night by IDF fire in the West Bank city of Qalqilyah.

Overnight, Israel Air Force missiles hit three Hamas targets in Gaza City, including the house of a militia leader located 500 yards from that of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

No casualties were reported in the air strikes, which took place late Friday and early Saturday, but they demolished the targets and damaged several neighboring buildings, Palestinian security officials said.

Among the targets was the home of Alaa Itilam, the deputy director of the Executive Force, a branch of the security forces set up by Hamas after it took power in the spring.

Itilam received a telephone call from the IDF before the air strike and evacuated his home in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp.

The missiles destroyed the second and third floor of Itilam's house, security officials said.

Also hit was a building housing a Hamas charity, Al-Islah. Missiles hit the second floor, destroying a library and offices and damaging a prayer room, security officials said.

North of Gaza City, an air strike targeted the training camp of the Executive Force, security officials said. The camp was deserted and no one was hurt.

IDF confirmed the air strikes. It said in one case, blasts went off after the missiles struck, indicating that explosives had been stored in the area.

Palestinian killed, 30 wounded in Qalqilyah raid
One Palestinian was killed and 30 wounded by IDF fire in the West Bank city of Qalqilyah on Friday, as troops surrounded a house in which they believed the head of the Hamas military wing in the city was hiding.

According to Palestinian sources, two of the wounded were in critical condition, and six were moderately injured.

IDF special forces opened fire after being confronted by Palestinians pelting them with firebombs and stones, the army said.

An IDF bulldozer is currently demolishing the house in an attempt to force the wanted militant out.

Palestinians fired two Qassam rockets at the Negev on Friday, causing slight damage but no injuries. The attacks came as troops continued to carry out pinpoint attacks to combat rocket fire.

One of the rockets landed near the dining room of a kibbutz and the other hit an open area.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed reservations Thursday regarding the possibility that the IDF may undertake an extensive operation in the Gaza Strip, but Defense Minister Amir Peretz vowed that Israel would continue its pressure on Gaza in an effort to counter rocket fire on the Negev.

Four rockets hit the Negev on Thursday, and on Wednesday a woman was killed and two other people were seriously wounded by rocket strikes on the western Negev town of Sderot.

Early Friday, four Palestinians were said to be wounded in an IAF strike on four Gaza Strip buildings the army said had been used to store and manufacture weapons for Hamas and other Palestinian factions, Israel Radio reported. The buildings also housed militants.

None of the militants occupying in the buildings seem to be were hurt, as troops warned them ahead of time of the impending strike.