Jockeying For Control In Gaza

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles in separate attacks on a Palestinian refugee camp on Wednesday, killing four people in a stepped-up campaign the army says is aimed at rooting out militants in the Gaza Strip.

Two unarmed teenage boys were among the dead, Palestinian officials said.

Islamic militants also traded fire with Palestinian security forces in downtown Gaza City during morning rush after a car carrying armed men refused to stop for a police inspection, witnesses said. One civilian was killed and 17 people were hurt, Palestinian officials said.

The confrontation raised new concerns about growing chaos in Gaza. With Israel planning to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are struggling for power, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger.

Two explosions heard in the Gaza Strip Wednesday afternoon alarmed residents, but Palestinian radio said the blasts were sonic booms caused by Israeli military jets.

Israel launched the new offensive into Gaza late Tuesday in response to a double suicide bombing earlier this week at the Israeli seaport of Ashdod that killed 10 Israelis. Security officials also have said they want to strike hard at militants ahead of a possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Since the start of the operations, a total of six Palestinians have been killed and 26 others wounded in a series of attacks.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is recommending to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israel withdraw almost entirely from the Gaza Strip, while maintaining control over the Philadelphi route on the Rafah-Egypt border in the southern Strip due to its strategic importance, reports Haaretz newspaper.

In Wednesday's missile strikes, both in the Rafah refugee camp, the army used the rare tactic of firing into a crowd of suspected gunmen. The vast majority of Israeli air strikes are aimed at specific targets, like cars carrying militants, based on intelligence reports.

The army said it fired the missiles after groups of militants approached troops. Ground forces raided the camp, located on the border with Egypt, overnight Wednesday to uncover tunnels used by weapons smugglers, it said.

During the searches, Palestinians fired grenades, anti-tank missiles and bombs, it said. No Israeli casualties were reported.

In the first missile strike, the army said a group of gunmen tried to place a powerful bomb along a road used by the military. Two people were killed.

Later Wednesday, a helicopter fired a second missile at a group of militants that approached soldiers, the army said.

But residents said the crowd included civilians. Residents and hospital officials said two unarmed 14-year-old boys were killed, and four other people were wounded.

Palestinians said Israeli troops also demolished seven homes.

Sharon's Security Cabinet approved the campaign of stepped-up raids into Gaza on Tuesday. The offensive could include the assassinations of Palestinian militants, including leaders of violent Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, an Israeli security official said.

That decision followed Sunday's double suicide bombing at the Ashdod seaport, the first successful attack against an Israeli strategic target in more than three years of violence. It also marked the first time that Palestinian bombers were able to sneak out of the fenced-in Gaza Strip to carry out an attack.

On Wednesday, Israel discovered hand grenades hidden in a container in Ashdod port, sources said. It raised the possibility that the Sunday's suicide bombers got into the port inside the container, which had a false bottom. Under it, the grenades, other weapons, food and mattresses were found, Army Radio reported.

The container docked at the port just minutes before the bombers blew themselves up.

However, earlier reports had said the bombers entered Israel through a tunnel under the security barrier in the West Bank, and that one of the bombers was outside the port when he blew up and the second scaled the perimeter fence.

At his West Bank headquarters, Arafat denounced the Israeli offensive Wednesday. "They want to destroy Gaza before they leave it, but our people do not kneel," he said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Israel was the victim of terrorism and had a right to defend itself, although it should be sensitive to the consequences of its military actions.

With Israel talking of a Gaza pullout, Palestinian factions appear to be vying for control of the impoverished coastal strip. Wednesday's shootout during Gaza City rush hour erupted despite a pledge by rival Palestinian factions to accept the authority of the security forces.

The confrontation began when a carload of gunmen from Hamas refused to halt for an inspection at a Palestinian police roadblock in the center of the city, Palestinian security officials said.

The militants then threw hand grenades, killing one civilian and injuring 17 others, the officials said.

Police chased the car, and special forces with red berets ran across an empty lot and up an alley to try to outflank the gunmen. The sound of ambulance sirens and automatic weapons fire mingled with the honking horns of gridlocked cars.

Many of those hurt were members of security forces under the leadership of Yasser Arafat's cousin, Moussa Arafat.

Palestinian security forces have stepped up car inspections in recent days and beefed up their presence in the streets as part of a new security plan that has won the tentative backing of rival factions.

However, it remains unclear whether the armed groups will accept the centerpiece of the plan — a ban on carrying weapons in public.