Gaza militants fire two rockets

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A militant group in Gaza says it has fired two rockets at Israel after troops killed an unarmed Palestinian infiltrator at the Gaza-Israel border.

Israeli police said the rockets landed in an open area and no-one was hurt.

It is the first death along the border since a 19 June ceasefire meant to calm violence and ease the Israeli blockade.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the man was one of its members and vowed revenge. It did not say what he had been doing at the border.

An army spokesman said soldiers saw him near the Kissufim crossing, so they fired warning shots. When he did not stop, they opened fire and killed him.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli troops continued for a fourth straight day a crackdown on institutions it links to the militant Hamas movement.

A medical centre and a TV station were closed down, and troops raided a mosque, a newspaper and other offices.

On Wednesday, troops shot dead a Hamas member near the West Bank city of Jenin.

The Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, has warned Israel that its military operations in the West Bank are undermining the Palestinian Authority - led by Hamas's rival Fatah - and its efforts to improve security.

'Violations'

Rockets have been fired at Israel on several occasions since the start of the truce between Israel and Hamas.

One of the militant groups behind the salvoes, Islamic Jihad, said it had counted nine truce violations in three weeks, including opening fire on fishermen in Gazan waters.

It is not clear if Israel will respond to the rocket fire by closing Gaza's goods crossings, which have been sealed off a number of times in similar circumstances since the fragile truce between Israel and Palestinian militants began.

Reports from Gaza say Hamas arrested the two militants who fired Wednesday's rockets.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members, who are loosely affiliated with Fatah, said Hamas security forces chased the men and "abducted" them, although this has not been confirmed by Hamas.

Israeli troops intensified their blockade of Gaza, allowing in only humanitarian and basic supplies, after Hamas seized control of the territory in June 2007.

Israel occupied Gaza, along with the West Bank, in the 1967 war. It pulled dismantled settlements in Gaza and pulled troops out unilaterally in 2005.