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Israel captures four Hamas militants in Gaza Strip gunfight

"Firing rockets has only brought misfortune and catastrophe for our people."

Salam Fayyad, Palestinian prime minister

Israeli soldiers captured four Hamas militants after a gunfight in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the Israeli army and Hamas' armed wing said.

"The four gunmen were taken into Israel for questioning," an army spokeswoman said.

Israel killed at least 35 Palestinians in Gaza last week as part of what officials describe as a stepped-up campaign to curb rocket fire into the Jewish state.

Gaza militants have fired about 230 mortars and rockets at Israel in the past five days, the army said.

Hamas' armed wing confirmed Saturday's arrests and said the four gunmen were besieged in a house near the northern Gaza town of Jabalya.

"They fought until the last bullet," a Hamas spokesman said.

Hamas said the Israeli soldiers also arrested family members who had been in the house.

The Israeli army said in a statement the four militants, armed with assault rifles and grenades, opened fire at the soldiers. The gunmen were taken for questioning in Israel along with several other suspects, the statement said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad appealed on Saturday for international protection for the Gaza Strip, target of deadly Israeli raids in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks.

"The international community must intervene to stop the Israeli aggression and offer international protection to our people who are facing the tyranny of occupation," Fayyad said at the launch of a West Bank industrial zone.

Israel has escalated operations in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip since Tuesday, killing at least 36 militants in the biggest flare-up of violence since Hamas took power in June.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants have meanwhile launched some 200 rockets into southern Israel.

Israel announced on Thursday it would close all crossings into and out of Gaza for several days to all but essential humanitarian aid, intensifying its almost two-year siege of the territory aimed at stemming rocket fire.

Fayyad criticized the firing of rockets into Israel, which rarely cause casualties, but said the rocket attacks cannot be compared to the shedding of Palestinian blood, according to a text of the speech.

"One must have the intellectual courage and the necessary sense of responsibility to realize that firing rockets has only brought misfortune and catastrophe for our people," Fayyad said.

But he warned that Israel's military escalation threatens to torpedo Israeli-Palestinian peace talks revived in November.
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