GAZA, May 29 (RIA Novosti) - Israeli troops killed two Hamas militants after moving into southern Gaza early Tuesday, local television reported.
Israel stepped up pinpoint attacks on Gaza early on Sunday, targeting militant leaders behind the rocket attacks on Sderot, southern Israel, in which 15 people were wounded, and following which hundreds have been forced to flee their homes.
Both militants belonged to a military arm of the radical Hamas movement. A Palestinian woman was wounded in a gun battle between Israeli commandos and militants, the Palestinian television channel said.
About 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since mid-May directed at Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who have fired more than a hundred rockets into southern Israel over the past week.
Israeli Army servicemen also detained four Fatah activists in the town of Nablus, in the West Bank, including Jamal Tirawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The MP is suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, including the organization of a bomb attack in Tel Aviv in 2002, the recruitment of suicide bombers and gunrunning.
Until now the wave of arrests has mainly affected representatives of the Hamas movement, including ministers, MPs, and mayors of Palestinian cities.
The pro-presidential Fatah and the more belligerent Hamas, two religious Islamic groups dominating politics in the Palestinian territories, have been fighting a relentless turf war since Hamas gained control of the government in a democratic election last year.
Hamas has refused to recognize Israel and has repeatedly criticized Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his policies.
The Israeli government said earlier it had abandoned its policy of "restraint" toward Palestinian militants, and has retaliated against the rocket attacks from Gaza with a number of air strikes in recent days, as fighting continues between Palestinian factions.
