Israeli aircraft fired three missiles at a facility of the resistance group Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza City, killing three fighters and wounding five, Palestinian hospital officials say.

A second airstrike, several hours after the first strike early on Sunday, targeted a bridge near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun that Palestinian fighters used to gain access to rocket-launching sites, the Israeli military said.

Palestinian security officials and witnesses said the two missiles that were fired landed in an empty field near the border with Israel, and the Israeli military said it couldn't confirm the missiles hit their target.

The three fighters killed in the first strike were senior Al Aqsa field operatives, the hospital said. Field operatives plan and carry out rocket attacks and other assaults on Israeli targets.

Some of the dead and wounded were pulling away in a car from the targeted building when a missile struck, leaving their vehicle an unrecognisable heap of charred and twisted metal.

Four of the wounded were security personnel guarding Preventive Security headquarters near the Al Aqsa facility, the hospital said.

Deterrence?

The Israeli military said the strike was meant to deter rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, such as one that wounded an Israeli baby and two adults in a kibbutz in southern Israel on Friday.

After that attack, claimed by Islamic Jihad fighters, and another one Friday in which rockets landed near the city of Ashkelon, Israel also fired dozens of artillery rounds at northern Gaza and eastern Gaza City.

The Israeli military said the facility targeted in the first airstrike served as a training camp for Al Aqsa operatives, and as a rocket- and mortar-launching site. Palestinians said it was an Al Aqsa sports club and sports training camp.

The car that was hit was travelling on a small street between the Al Aqsa facility and Palestinian Preventive Security offices.

Dozens of Al Aqsa members and supporters of the affiliated Fatah Party gathered outside the hospital after the airstrike, some firing rifles in the air outside the morgue.

One Al Aqsa member, who identified himself as Abu Mujahed, accused Israel of carrying out a targeted killing of the group's fighters, but the Israeli military denied that.

"God willing, our rockets, our self-sacrificing martyrs and all the means of resistance will chase out the Zionists from every corner of our occupied land," Abu Mujahed said. "God willing, our revenge will come by deeds, and not by words."

Abbas holds key talks with Hamas

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has agreed that Hamas will take control of Palestinian security forces after it assumes power.

Abbas met Hamas leaders on Saturday night for the first time since the group routed his long-ruling Fatah in 25 January, parliamentary elections.

In the meeting, Abbas did not demand the group recognise Israel or Palestinian-Israeli accords if it wants to form the next government, a Hamas leader said.

Power-sharing

Abbas, who was elected separately last year and wants to restart peace talks with Israel, must now work out a power-sharing arrangement with the group.

Israel's Channel 1 TV reported that Abbas sought to maintain control of Palestinian police in the meeting, but Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said no such demands were made.

Haniyeh told reporters after the meeting: "There is no truth to baseless reports that President Abbas wants to take over the security institutions."

Abbas, who did not comment, has not said he wants to retain authority over the 58,000-member Palestinian police. But other senior Fatah officials have insisted that Fatah-dominated security forces would not submit to Hamas control.

Honour deals with Israel

Abbas, who says he plans to stay on as president, has said he intends to ask the new cabinet to honour the Palestinian Authority's previous deals with Israel.

Asked if any conditions were imposed on Hamas, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an Abbas aide, said: "It's natural that the incoming government must be in harmony" with Palestinian commitments.

Hamas leaders said Abbas did not demand they recognise Israel or honour agreements with Israel.

The Palestinian president "did not pose any political conditions related to the agreements, or to anything else," Haniyeh said.

Asked if Hamas would honour past deals with Israel, he said: "The Israeli occupation has to recognise our legitimate rights first. Negotiations with Israel, are not on our agenda."

As for recognising Israel, Mahmoud Zahar, another Hamas leader, said: "We are not going to recognise the Israeli enemy."

Abu Rdeneh and Haniyeh said the new, Hamas-dominated parliament would convene for its first session on 16 February.

If Israel does not let Hamas lawmakers from Gaza travel through Israel to the seat of the Palestinian government in the West Bank town of Ram Allah, then the group will use video-conferencing to include them in the deliberations, Haniyeh said.

New government

With Saturday's meeting, unofficial consultations on forming a new government have begun, Haniyeh said.

After parliament meets on 16 February, Hamas will nominate a prime minister and submit that name to Abbas, who would then formally charge the nominee with forming a government, he added.

Although Abbas has not yet chosen Hamas for that job, Abu Rdeneh said that as the biggest bloc in parliament, it will be the group's right to form the cabinet.

Zahar predicted a Hamas-led government would be in place by the end of February, and Haniyeh said it would be made up of politicians from various parties and technocrats.

Deal with Fatah

Hamas, a novice to national politics, has invited Fatah to join a governing coalition, but has not received an official answer, Haniyeh said.

An alliance with Fatah would allow Hamas to sidestep dealings with Israel, which the Palestinians cannot avoid entirely, if only for economic reasons. The Palestinian infrastructure is heavily intertwined with Israel's, and most Palestinian imports pass through Israeli-controlled borders.

PHOTO CAPTION