Israel presses on with Gaza offensive

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GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israel's military crackdown on Palestinian militants in northern Gaza continued for a fifth day Sunday, with the deaths of a Hamas militant and a Palestinian policeman by Israeli fire, according Palestinian medical sources.

At the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Gaza operation "is limited in time but we have no intention of announcing when it will end."

The Israel Defense Forces said it was not aware of the attack, described by the Palestinian sources, which killed a militant and a police officer.

However, the IDF did say it carried out an airstrike west of Beit Hanoun targeting two militants carrying a rocket-propelled grenade. It did not say if those militants were killed.

The Gaza operation has focused on the town of Beit Hanoun since it began on Wednesday.

In the past five days, approximately 40 Palestinians have been killed, 30 Palestinians have been arrested and seven groups of rocket launchers have been targeted by Israeli fire, an Israeli army spokesman said.

Among those killed was a 12-year-old Palestinian girl, whose death Saturday by an Israeli sniper was an accident, according to the IDF. The sniper was targeting a Palestinian in a group of armed men, the IDF said.

The IDF is investigating the girl's death.

Israel is trying to destroy the militants and infrastructure used to fire Qassam rockets from northern Gaza into Israel. On Sunday, four Qassam rockets hit Israeli towns on the Gaza border, including two in the town of Sderot. No injuries were reported.

"We have declared that we will never accept the ongoing Qassam fire and that we would take any steps needed to considerably reduce the fire and prevent terror activity. We have said so, we are doing so and we will continue to do so," Olmert told his cabinet.

"We have no intention to conquer Gaza, we have no intention to stay in Gaza," Olmert said.