Hamas' military wing has claimed the killing of an Israeli soldier in the West Bank while two Palestinian activists in Gaza have been in an Israeli air strike targeting the car they were travelling in.

On Wednesday, an Israeli soldier was killed in the West Bank during a military operation, the Israeli army said.

The soldier was killed after an Islamic Jihad operative surrendered without resistance in the northern West Bank village of Yirka. He was shot during a gun battle afterwards and died on his way to hospital," an Israeli army spokesman told Reuters.

Aljazeera's correspondent in Palestine quoted Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas as claiming responsibility for the Israeli soldier's killing in the village of Mirka, south of Jenin.

Speaking to Aljazeera over phone, a spokesperson for Hamas said that fighters ambushed an Israeli security posse in the area and might have killed one of the soldiers.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested two brothers who are Hamas activists and imposed curfew on the village for several hours before withdrawing.

Palestinians killed

Six bystanders were injured in Tuesday's attack when an unmanned Israeli aircraft slammed a missile into the vehicle travelling near the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza, medical sources said.

Hassan al-Madhun, 32, a local leader of the Nabil Masud Brigades, an armed wing of the Al-Aqsa Martrys' Brigades, was killed, security sources said.

The other victim was identified as Fayiz Abu al-Qaraa, 37, a local leader of the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing.

Aljazeera's Gaza correspondent Wail al-Dahduh reported both al-Madhun and al-Qaraa were driving towards al-Falluja district in Jibalia, north of Gaza when they were attacked by an Israeli drone.

Witnesses said the Israeli military drone fired two or three rockets at the vehicle.

The car was destroyed killing the two Palestinians whose badly charred bodies were later taken to hospital.

Fatalities

Israeli occupation forces said al-Madhun was involved in, and had carried out, several operations against Israeli targets before Israel's pull-out from Gaza.

Aljazeera's correspondent in Jenin reported that the Israeli occupation army has detained the leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin, Adieb al-Qit, who was on Israel's wanted list since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada (Uprising).

One of the leaders of al-Quds Brigades, Salih al-Saadi, had escaped unharmed from the Israeli incursion in which more than 20 military vehicles were used.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has vowed to retaliate against Israel's military operations and assassinations saying Israel has declared war by carrying out these operations.

Hamas warning

A senior Hamas official told AFP "Israel has started a war" by killing the two men.

"Israel has started a war with this assassination and it will pay a heavy price," he said speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli army confirmed the blast, saying the airforce had "attacked a vehicle carrying a senior activist from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades called Hassan Madoun".

"This assassination will open the gates of hell on the enemy," Islamic Jihad said after Tuesday's strike.

Islamic Jihad had expressed a readiness on Sunday to maintain the truce agreed upon and suspend operations if Israeli air raids stopped, but Israeli officials pledged to press ahead with a military campaign against Palestinian resistance groups.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said after Israel's missile attack that it had ordered all its fighters "to strike the enemy everywhere".

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erikat said the Palestinian Authority (PA) was "exerting maximum efforts" to persuade all the groups to cease their attacks.

"And now this happens. It is like pouring oil on the fire," he said, condemning the Israeli air incursion.

Israeli account

"When there will be a let-up in terrorist attacks, when the Palestinian Authority decides finally to take action against these groups, to disarm them ... then we will not have to bring justice to them," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Gissin said al-Madhun and al-Qaraa "were about to go out and prepare a terrorist attack" and had cooperated before in bombings and other strikes that killed 21 Israelis.

Fierce clashes erupted in the northern West Bank city of Jenin late on Tuesday as at least 40 Israeli tanks and Jeeps converged on the city, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

Two Palestinians were wounded, the sources said, while troops arrested Adib Abu Hussein, 30, a local chief of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is loosely affiliated with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.

Troops backed by two Apache helicopters spread quickly through the city, surrounding a building in which local Islamic Jihad leader Salah al-Saadi was holed up along with several other fighters, the sources said.

Two bulldozers were also seen entering the city, which is known for its fierce resistance to the Israeli occupation. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incursion.

Palestinian deaths

At least 13 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli army incursions in the West Bank and air strikes in the Gaza Strip since five Israelis were killed by a bomber in the town of Hadera last Wednesday.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack - saying it was in retaliation to the Israeli army killing one of its memebers in the West Bank.

Tuesday's air strike raised the total number of people reported killed in Israeli-Palestinian violence since September 2000 to 4873, according to an AFP count. Over three-quarters of the dead are Palestinian.

Israel had earlier indicated that it would renew its assassination of Palestinian leaders and intensify its military operations in the West Bank with Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz officially giving the order citing the Hadera bombing as the reason.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian boy has a last look at the body of Fawzi Abu al-Qarea, leader of Hamas' armed wing, during his funeral in Jabalya refugee camp, north of Gaza Strip, November 2, 2005. (REUTERS)