GAZA, Jan 5: Palestinian militants hit an army base in Israel with rocket fire on Wednesday, wounding 12 soldiers, as they defied calls for a halt to attacks from Mahmoud Abbas, the frontrunner to succeed Yasser Arafat in Sunday's elections.

Violence has surged in Gaza before the Palestinian vote, likely to be won by ex-Arafat deputy Abbas, who has called for a cease fire in the four-year-old uprising to allow talks on a state in Israeli-occupied lands to resume.

Raising doubts over new peace hopes following Yasser Arafat's death, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he did not think the Palestinians could achieve anything if violence continued.

The rocket crashed inside the Nahal Oz army base, just beyond Gaza's border fence, in a rare strike on a military target inside Israel. Hamas militants said they were avenging the killing of seven Palestinians on a farm by an Israeli shell on Tuesday.

Early on Wednesday, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian who attacked them at Gaza's Erez border crossing. Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed the Erez attack.

Fighters have spurned calls from Mahmoud Abbas, known to many as Abu Mazen, to cease attacks that he says are useless because they draw heavy Israeli retaliation. Israel has stepped up raids into Gaza to curb the mortar and rocket salvoes.

"Abu Mazen's statements shocked the Palestinian people and contradicted the consensus," said Sami Abu Zuhri of Hamas. "Resistance will continue until occupation ends."

ABBAS TRYING TO CO-OPT MILITANTS: Bringing the militants on board will be the most important challenge for Mahmoud Abbas after the elections, for which polls show that he is the overwhelming favourite. -Reuters