At least five Palestinians have been killed in Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said the strike on Friday targeted a camp used by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an umbrella group of activists often blamed for firing makeshift rockets into Israel.

The air strike scattered body parts and left pools of blood in a field just metres away from the home of Moumtaz Dourghmush, the top commander in the resistance committees.

Dourghmush was not at the scene, but a brother and three cousins were among the dead, hospital officials said.

Abu Mujahid, an official with the group, said at least three missiles landed on the field as members were training.

"God willing, this is not going to stop our heroic battle against the Zionists, and the blood is the fuel of our resistance and our reprisal is coming soon," he said.

The Israeli military has recently stepped up air strikes against resistance fighters as well as artillery barrages against what it says are rocket launch sites used by resistance fighters.

This is the first air strike since Israel's new government took office on Thursday under Ehud Olmert, the prime minister.

Peace hopes remain dim since Hamas took control of the Palestinian Authority in March after beating Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's long-dominant Fatah movement in January's Parliamentary election.

Ghazi Hamad, Palestinian cabinet spokesman, told Reuters: "The crime today (in Gaza) is a blood soaked message sent by Olmert to the international community."

Stone-thrower killed

Earlier on Friday, at least one Palestinian was been killed after Israeli troops opened fire on stone-throwing youth in the northern West Bank.

In another incident, five Palestinians were wounded in separate clashes with the Israeli soldiers elsewhere in the territory.

Muhammad al-Kutub, 19, died from a bullet to the chest after soldiers opened fire on protestors in the city of Nablus.

The clashes broke out after Israeli troops entered Nablus and took up position around the home of a wanted activist from the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), witnesses said.

Another Palestinian was wounded and four members of the faction, including the wanted man, were arrested, Palestinian sources said.

Gunfire exchange

Earlier, five gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, were wounded in exchanges of fire with Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

The gunfight broke out shortly after around 50 jeeps and four army bulldozers piled into the camp, where soldiers conducted house-to-house searches, medical and security sources said.

Israeli troops imposed a curfew on the camp and sealed off entry points.

Seven Palestinians were arrested in the operation, Palestinian sources said.

Hamas rally

Also on Friday, thousands of Palestinians held rallies across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in support of the Hamas-led government which continues to face diplomatic isolation and aid cuts from donors.

Palestinian officials have warned that the economy could collapse within months as Israel and Western countries led by the United States keep up pressure on the Palestinian Authority.

The West has cut direct aid while Israel has stopped tax transfers to the Authority.

The aid cut-off has deepened poverty in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Thousands of Palestinians held protests across Gaza, some burned Israeli and US flags.

Others carried banners which called US moves "a starvation and siege" of Palestinians.

"These are wrong policies. You are leading the region towards a big explosion," Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told supporters in Gaza.
Aid collection

Thousands carrying Hamas flags held a solidarity rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah, with collection boxes passed round by Hamas officials.

"Although it is a small sum, it will encourage others to help," Ismail Abed, 37, a Ramallah merchant said as he placed money into one of the boxes.

"It is a symbolic gesture," he said.

Women and young girls also handed over their jewellery.

Supporters in Ramallah cheered as Ismail Haniyah, the Palestinian prime minister, spoke to the crowd via a video link from Gaza.

"We may starve but we will not cave in," Haniyah said.

Aziz al-Dweik, the Hamas parliament speaker, told the rally in Ramallah: "We tell the West: We stand with our government and we won't abandon it. Our government must stand tall and not make concessions."

"We renew our pledge of allegiance to (prime minister) Ismail Haniya and his government," Dweik added.

A Palestinian official said Haniyah had been contacted by a Saudi Arabian businessman who had donated 8 million Saudi riyals.
It was not clear how the money could reach the government.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, refuses to recognise the Jewish state or disarm, key conditions demanded for resuming aid.

The government has been unable to pay salaries to 165,000 Palestinian Authority workers, whose wages are a key driver of economic activity in Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinian officials say US pressure has also thwarted a Hamas-backed plan for the Arab League to deposit donor funds directly into the accounts of workers.

The government needs 120 million US dollar a month for salaries and has failed to pay March and April wages.

Officials say it is also unlikely to secure funds for May salaries.

PHOTO CAPTION

A wounded Palestinian boy is carried to a hospital after an Israeli air strike in Gaza May 5, 2006. (Reuters)