One soldier was moderately wounded and three suffered light injuries when mortar shells near the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the army said.

In Gaza City, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the senior partner in the Palestinian unity cabinet, claimed responsibility for the fire, which also struck a kibbutz without causing injuries.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed the army would continue its strikes on gunmen despite a drop in projectiles fired by militants at the weekend.

"In view of what appears to be a drop in Qassam fire, I would like to make it clear that we are not negotiating," Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to the homemade rockets.

"We are not committing ourselves to changing the patterns of our operations," he said. "We will continue to take action against terrorist elements... in the Gaza region and the West Bank without letting up."

"These activities are yielding results and will continue as they contribute to protecting Israeli citizens."

The violence around Gaza, which has also included deadly factional clashes between rival Fatah and Hamas factions, has sparked international concern and has threatened to torpedo efforts to revive the moribund Middle East peace talks.