Palestinians: Israeli strikes kill 4 in Gaza
Pre-dawn raid in Rafah follows weekend suicide bombings
 |  A Palestinian militant runs for cover as another one holds his position during clashes Wednesday with Israeli troops in Gaza. |
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 Gaza scene of growing violence
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GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Tensions were high Wednesday across Gaza as two Israeli missile strikes in a refugee camp killed four Palestinians and wounded 11 others, Palestinian sources said.
The Israeli offensive came in the wake of Sunday's suicide bombings that killed 10 Israelis in the port city of Ashdod.
Israel sent a group of at least 19 tanks across the border near southern Gaza's Rafah refugee camp in what it says is an increased effort to rout out Palestinian militant groups.
In the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at two groups of armed gunmen laying roadside bombs, the Israeli military said. Two Palestinians were killed and seven others wounded, Palestinian sources said.
Hours later, Israel carried out a second missile strike, killing two Palestinians and wounding four others, according to Palestinian sources.
Israeli military sources said the missiles were aimed at armed Palestinians in Rafah, who were firing on Israeli forces operating in the area.
Israeli tanks and troops remained on the outskirts of Rafah, prompting a sharp rebuke from Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
"This is a plan which I have mentioned before that they are insisting to carry on with their attacks against our people, against our structures, against our holy, sacred Christian, Muslim, places everywhere and especially in Gaza," Arafat said.
"Before they leave Gaza, they want to destroy Gaza, which is a big crime."
Also Wednesday in Gaza City, a gunfight broke out after Palestinian policemen stopped a car for a routine check, eyewitnesses and Palestinian security sources said.
The 40-minute exchange of fire left one person dead and 18 wounded, sources said.
The people inside the car -- members of the Hamas military wing Izzedine al Qassam -- got out of the vehicle and opened fire on the Palestinian police and military intelligence, the eyewitnesses and sources said.
The Israeli Cabinet decided Tuesday to step up what it calls "targeted killings" of leaders of Palestinian militant groups and increase ground operations in Gaza after Sunday's attacks in Ashdod.
Later Tuesday, Israeli Apache helicopters fired three missiles at a house in northern Gaza, killing two people and wounding 13, Palestinian medical sources said.
According to a Palestinian military sources, members of militant group Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade -- a military offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement -- were meeting at the house when the attack took place. A Palestinian militant source said the two people who died were an Islamic Jihad member and a member of the Palestinian intelligence service.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said that it "targeted a structure in which Islamic Jihad terrorists, involved in attacks against Israelis, were present."
Sunday's suicide bombings marked the first time a bomber breached a "hardened target," the strict security at the port's entrance and perimeter, Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said.
The attacks prompted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to cancel a meeting this week with his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qorei. The planned talks were an attempt to revive the "road map" to Mideast peace. The road map -- backed by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- aims to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish an independent Palestinian state by 2005.
Phase one of the plan includes a call for Palestinians to end their attacks and Israel to freeze settlement activity and dismantle settlements erected since March 2001.
Israel seized Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War and began building settlements there soon after the conflict.
In 1994, under the Oslo Accords, Israel ceded most Gaza to the Palestinian Authority but kept control of the coastline, borders and 24 Jewish settlements, where about 7,500 Israelis live in heavily guarded enclaves.
Gaza is already separated from Israel by a fence, but Israeli troops remain in the area to guard Jewish settlements.
Palestinians have formal self-rule over 58 percent of Gaza, according to the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs.
CNN's Chris Burns contributed to this report.
