Two senior Hamas operatives were killed and four other Palestinians were seriously wounded on Monday evening in an Israel Air Force raid on Gaza City.

The two militants were killed by a missile launched from an IAF aircraft at their car in the Gaza suburb of Saja'iya. The operatives killed were identified as Abed al Qader Habib and Basal Ubeid.

Four people were also seriously wounded in the attack, including a 1-year-old girl, hospital officials said. An Israel Defense Forces spokesman confirmed the attack.

	Advertisement

Earlier on Monday evening, IDF troops shot to death a Palestinian who approached a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Jericho. The man pulled a pistol as he approached the checkpoint, and in response the checkpoint commander fired at him, killing him on the spot.

After searching the body, soldiers discovered that the gun had been a metal fake.

On Monday afternoon four Palestinians were wounded in clashes with IDF troops in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Israel Radio reported. A wanted militant from the Islamic Jihad turned himself in to troops during the clashes.

Meanwhile, eight Qassam rockets hit the western Negev on Monday, causing some damage but no injuries.

Three of the rockets hit open areas, and one hit the town of Sderot. A fifth rocket hit in the Sderot area, causing damage to a vehicle. Two others landed later in the afternoon. An eight rocket struck a house in a western Negev community, causing no injuries but damaging the building.

IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, touring the IDF induction base at Tel Hashomer on Sunday, said that it is easy to make suggestions, like a large-scale operation in Gaza, but that the use of force cannot resolve everything, Army Radio said.

Halutz said he was certain that a solution will be found to prevent the launching of Qassam rockets, but that Israel must act with forethought and morality in the conflict with the Palestinians.

He described the public criticism of the army as exaggerated, stating that it "throws the baby out with the bathwater."

With regard to the Hezbollah, Halutz said Israel needs to prepare for the future, because there have been significant changes in southern Lebanon since the war ended.

Gunmen fire on troops in West Bank
Earlier Monday, Palestinian gunmen fired on and threw a bomb at IDF troops in Nablus, causing no injuries. Security forces also arrested 18 wanted Palestinians overnight Monday in the West Bank.

On Sunday, 11 Qassam rockets were fired at the western Negev, five of which hit Sderot. Four of the rockets hit areas near Sderot, and two could not be located.

A taxi driver from Be'er Sheva suffered moderate to serious wounds, and two others were lightly hurt, as a result of one of the rocket strikes in Sderot on Sunday.

The Hamas military wing claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Also Sunday, a 75-year-old Palestinian man was killed and nine others killed in an Israel Air Force strike targeting two senior members of Hamas' rocket-launching unit in Gaza City. The militants were injured in the strike.