( Associated Press Writer ) - Israel hopes to reach a peace deal with Abbas by 2008, though officials say an agreement can't be carried out until the moderate Palestinian president regains control of Gaza. Abbas condemned the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, but also condemned the rocket attacks as "useless."
Palestinians fired rockets and mortar shells at Israel on Tuesday morning. Two shells hit an Israeli farm, damaging a chicken coop but causing no casualties, the military said.
The air attacks, the military said, targeted militants involved in rocket fire at Israel.
The target of the first Israeli airstrike in Gaza City late Monday was Majed Harazin. The group said he was its top commander for the West Bank and Gaza, and he rarely traveled in vehicles for fear of an Israeli airstrike.
Another militant was killed in the raid, hospital officials said.
Hamas radio said the car was filled with explosives and warned people to stay away, but people crowded around the burning vehicle. Witnesses said the initial blast was followed by smaller explosions after the car was hit.
In the second airstrike, shortly before midnight, the military said it targeted a cell that was about to fire rockets at Israel. Undercover agents took part in the attack, the military said, and the leader of the cell, master rocket-maker Karim al-Dahdouh and three other militants were killed.
The third strike, early Tuesday, killed four militants. Four civilians were also wounded, medical officials said.
The fourth attack, on a Hamas security post in the southern town of Rafah, killed two members of Hamas' security force, Hamas said. The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the strike