Israeli aircraft and artillery pounded the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, targeting roads and open areas it said Palestinians used to launch rocket attacks against southern Israel.
Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef told his security chiefs that "firm and serious action" would be taken against facilities militants used to manufacture or store weapons, his office said in a statement released on Saturday.
But Palestinian security forces "would not enter any house looking for weapons," the statement said, reflecting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' reluctance to forcibly disarm gunmen, a move he fears would provoke civil war.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, meanwhile, Palestinian police fired in the air to disperse about 60 Islamic Jihad militants who gathered outside Abbas' offices, some of them throwing stones at security forces.
Palestinian security officials said orders have been given to clamp down on Islamic Jihad protests, an apparent effort to pressure the group to halt its attacks on Israel. Islamic Jihad has been responsible for the most violent attacks against Israeli targets since a February ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.
The air and artillery strikes capped a week of confrontations that began on Monday with Israel's killing of a top Islamic Jihad gunman blamed in the deaths of 12 Israelis in recent months.
No injuries were reported in the air and artillery strikes that began just after midnight Friday and continued throughout the day. But the missiles heavily damaged roads and water and sewage lines.
Violence against Israel also simmered in the West Bank.
In Nablus, Palestinian militants detonated a car bomb near an Israeli combat ambulance early Saturday, causing damage but no injuries, the military said.
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