Israel advances into Gaza towns; 2 Palestinians killed in fighting

~ Militants, led by gunmen from the ruling Hamas faction's military wing, faced off against Israeli troops.

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip -- Israel stepped up its offensive against Palestinian rocket squads on Wednesday, sending troops and tanks into two Gaza towns in a sign that intensified diplomatic efforts are facing tough obstacles.

After nightfall, two Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza -- a 16-year-old youth and a 39-year-old woman, Palestinians said. The military said there were no exchanges of fire for several hours around the time the killings were reported. Earlier, two Hamas militants were killed.

The Israeli operation failed to stop rockets from slamming into southern Israel and one hit a school just before pupils arrived. No one was hurt.

In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli snipers positioned themselves on more than a dozen rooftops in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Jebaliya as ground troops fanned out, Palestinian security officials said. Three teenage Palestinian girls were wounded by Israeli gunfire outside a school in Beit Hanoun, hospital and security officials said.

Militants, led by gunmen from the ruling Hamas faction's military wing, faced off against troops in both towns with land mines, anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, security officials said. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded, the military said.

Soldiers took over the home of a Hamas legislator Jamila Shanti who earlier in the month helped organize a women's demonstration that let dozens of militants escape an Israeli siege on a Beit Hanoun mosque, Shanti said.

She was not in the house in Jebaliya at the time.