Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called on Saturday for his security forces to step up efforts to prevent rockets from being fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

At a graduation ceremony for his personal security guard, Abbas was quoted by the official WAFA news agency as saying it was necessary that "all parties work with maximum effort, especially the presidential guard and national security forces, to spread security and safety in the homeland, end security anarchy and stop aimless rockets."

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit issued harsh words to Israel regarding an Israeli airstrike earlier on Saturday, and urged both Israel and the Palestinians not to carry out any further attacks.

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Gheit said Israeli actions did not "add to the ongoing efforts ... to bring the peace process back on track".

Israel Air Force helicopters fired into the northern Gaza Strip early Saturday, killing a Palestinian militant and wounding two others in what local residents described as the fiercest exchange of fire between Israel Defense Forces troops and Palestinian militants since a November truce.

The army said it carried out Saturday's airstrike, near the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, after spotting the militants trying to plant a bomb. It said militants had planted explosives in the same area two days earlier.

A spokesman from Islamic Jihad said that IDF helicopters fired on the militant, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Islamic Jihad gunmen as they were standing near the Gaza security fence.

The Islamic Jihad added that its militants and members of another group had been mounting an operation near the fence when the exchange of fire occurred.

An IDF spokesman said the helicopters opened fire after identifying "suspicious movements" near the border fence where militants had been operating and trying to plant explosive devices.

The residents said IDF tanks had entered the area but the IDF denied this.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a militant group, said the gunmen were on a holy mission when they were hit by the Israeli force.

In a joint statement with the Islamic Jihad militant group, the DFLP said the dead militant, 22, blew himself up in an attempt to cause casualties among Israeli ground troops.

However, Palestinian medical officials said the nature of the man's wounds indicated the airstrike was the cause of death.

The incident was the latest blow to the truce, reached last November between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Israel says militants have been exploiting the lull to smuggle explosives, missiles and other weapons into Gaza through tunnels from neighboring Egypt. During the truce, militants also have continued to fire rockets into Israel.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian gunman was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops in an area where militants frequently fire rockets toward Israel.

The army said militants have planted more than 40 bombs along the border since the cease-fire declaration.

Israeli military officials have repeatedly warned of the arms buildup in Gaza in recent weeks, and the army has been preparing for a large-scale invasion.

On Monday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz authorized the army to carry out limited operations just inside Gaza against militants, despite a cease-fire agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians in November.

Tensions are running high in Gaza despite the formation of a unity government on March 17 between the ruling Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

A Gunbattle in the Gaza town of Khan Yunis on Friday left at least one member of Hamas and one member of Fatah injured, local residents and rescue workers said.

Qassam rocket fired at Sderot

On Saturday, a Qassam was fired from Gaza at Sderot, landing in an industrial area of the city. The rocket damaged a factory but caused no injuries.

Some militant groups have carried on firing rockets into Israel from Gaza despite the truce, and Peretz said Israel would "not allow the continued strengthening and arming" of militants in the coastal strip.

Al-Aqsa head in Jenin Zakariya Zubeidi lightly wounded by IDF fire

Also Saturday, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said Zakariya Zubeydi, the commander of the group's forces in Jenin, was shot in the shoulder during a gunbattle with Israeli forces in Jenin. The group said Zubeydi was being treated at a private residence.

Israel's army confirmed it fired at a gunman in a battle in Jenin's refugee camp overnight, but said it did not know the identity of the target. Israel says Zubeydi has been involved in numerous attacks against Israelis, including deadly roadside shootings.

Zubeydi, a fluent Hebrew speaker, is often interviewed by the Israeli media. He is best known for his friendship with an Israeli woman, Tali Fahima, who was jailed for more than two years on charges she shared classified information with Zubeydi