Four Palestinians were killed when Israeli ground troops backed by tanks and armoured vehicles raided the northern Gaza towns of Beit Hanoun and Jebaliya.

Palestinian witnesses said that two armed men and two civilians were killed in the fighting on Wednesday.

Israel appeared to be stepping up its offensive into northern Gaza as night fell.

Israeli soldiers killed two men from Hamas, hospital officials said.

They also said that a Palestinian woman was killed when Israel shelled an area used by rocket crews. A 14-year-old boy died nearby refugee camp.

Palestinians continue to fire rockets at Israeli cities despite the offensive.

The Israeli army confirmed it was operating in northern Gaza as part of its ongoing offensive against Gaza rocket squads, but gave no other details.

Israeli troops forcibly entered the home of Jamila Shanti, a Hamas legislator who earlier in the month helped to organise a women's demonstration that let dozens of Palestinian fighters escape an Israeli siege on a Beit Hanoun mosque.

Shanti was not in the house at the time, contrary to Palestinian security officials' earlier reports.

A Palestinian fighter from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades was killed and two others were seriously wounded in separate raids on the northern West Bank town of Jenin. The Palestinian fighters say the launching of missiles into Israel is a response to continued Israeli army assaults against Palestinians in the occupied territories

The army's operations came after Israel's security cabinet said it would continue its military raids and "targeted killings" in Gaza.

Some cabinet members wanted Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, to approve tougher action to halt rocket salvos aimed at towns and villages that border Gaza.

A security cabinet statement also called for continued cooperation with Cairo to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza from neighbouring Egypt.

Palestinian fighters say the launching of missiles into Israel is a response to continued Israeli army assaults against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

The Red Cross has meanwhile suspended its activities in Gaza after Palestinian armed men kidnapped two of its workers, its local office said.

Iyad Nasir, a spokesman in Gaza for the The International Committee of the Red Cross, said the two Italian aid workers were released early on Wednesday and were reported to be unharmed.

Over the past two years, there has been a number of kidnappings of foreign aid workers and journalists in Gaza, usually by groups or families pressing the government for money or job guarantees.

In most cases, the hostages were quickly released and none have been seriously harmed.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinians pray next to the body of Hamas militant Ahmed Abu Meatak, who was killed by Israeli troops, during his funeral in northern Gaza strip November 22, 2006. (REUTERS)