AL QUDS, May 16: Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians as they tried to cross the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, Israel Radio reported.

The report indicated that the Palestinians were armed and said they were trying to cross the border unobserved near the community of Nahal Oz in Israel when they were killed.

Neither the Israeli army nor any Palestinian officials had any immediate comment on the incident. Earlier Israeli helicopter gunships fired rockets at multiple targets in Gaza City on Sunday, including a building used by Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said in Gaza.

One rocket struck in the neighbourhood of Sejahiya, the security sources said, next to an office belonging to the Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad targets were under assault by Israeli forces for large parts of Saturday.

Two people were wounded in the attack which caused substantial damage to the building. A second helicopter later fired two rockets in the Nasser neighbourhood of Gaza City, hitting the offices of newspaper Al Rissalah, according to a correspondent on the scene. One person was injured in that attack which also seriously damaged the building.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the two raids, saying the first had targeted an office of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Fatah. The second raid was aimed at a "newspaper linked to Hamas". -AFP