EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip - Israel fired missiles and sent tanks on a foray into Gaza on Wednesday, killing four Palestinians in the first military action since Hamas militants took control.
At the same time, Israel eased restrictions on travel in and out of Gaza, letting in a few seriously ill Palestinians who had been holed up for days at a fetid border crossing.
A teenager with leukemia and two other chronically ill Palestinians were on their way through the tunnel at the Erez crossing in Israel, the military said. Israeli officials also authorized entry of all foreign nationals living in Gaza.
Israel's Supreme Court was hearing a petition by a human rights group demanding that Israeli authorities also offer immediate medical treatment to 26 critically ill Palestinians hospitalized in Gaza.
Israeli aircraft, meanwhile, fired missiles at two rocket launchers in northern Gaza, in the first aerial attack since the Islamic militants of Hamas took over the coastal strip last week. No injuries were reported in the strike, which came in retaliation for militant rocket fire on Israel.
Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza, and four people, including at least two militants, were killed in an exchange of fire, Palestinian hospital officials said.
In the West Bank, two Palestinian militants were killed in a shootout with Israeli troops during an arrest raid near Jenin.
Mahmoud Zahar, the man widely believed to be leading Gaza's new Hamas rulers said his group was open to a cease-fire with Israel if the army halts its activities there and in the West Bank. He said Hamas was capable of halting the frequent rocket attacks out of Gaza.
"But nobody will be the protector of the Israeli border," he told The Associated Press.
About 200 Gazans - petrified of the chaos in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip - have been camped out for six days in a tunnel reeking of trash, urine and sweat on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing, pleading with Israeli authorities to grant them safe passage to the West Bank.
Hamas' defeat of security forces from the rival Fatah faction has left many Gazans anticipating more chaos and violence. Some in the tunnel feared for their lives because of their Fatah loyalties; others sought a better life than volatile Gaza can offer.
Among them were people wounded in gunbattles between the rival factions.
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed officials to let in "humanitarian cases" at the crossing, the Defense Ministry said. No numbers were specified, and specific guidelines for determining urgency were not released.
Military officials, who have said militants might try to squeeze through the passage, say not everyone in the tunnel is in danger. Israel, which has sophisticated weapons screening equipment in place at Erez, is also letting through the staff of international organizations and people with special permission.
Saeb Erekat, a confidant of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said Israel had agreed to transfer 55 people to Israeli hospitals. Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment on this number.
But the humanitarian cases are being processed too slowly, the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights contended in a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court.
Ran Yaron, a doctor with the group, told Israel Radio the lives of 15 of the patients represented in the petition were in danger because treatment was not available in Gaza. Among them was an 18-year-old woman with lupus, who was on life support. Others, including at least two children, were suffering from cancer or other serious diseases.
"Israel has a responsibility since it closed the ... crossings," Yaron said. "It has the responsibility to find a solution for these patients."
Military liaison official Shadi Yassin said Hamas' takeover of Gaza deprived Israel of its main contact on humanitarian issues - Fatah-allied Palestinian police.
"In the past, we coordinated with Palestinian police," he said. "Now, we don't have this contact, and are trying in every way to obtain information from the Red Cross about sick people whose transfer to Israel must be coordinated."
The Red Cross coordinated the transfer Tuesday of seven Gazans wounded in internal strife, and hoped to arrange the transfer of six to nine more Wednesday, Red Cross spokesman Bernard Barrett said.
Israel allowed all foreign nationals in Gaza to enter Israel. Buses brought over some 90 Ukrainians on Wednesday, and more foreigners were expected to enter later, Yassin said.
Overall, more than 100 foreigners have left Gaza since Hamas wrested control there, the military said.
In Washington on Tuesday, President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed support for Abbas at a high-profile news conference.
"I am going to make every possible effort to cooperate with him," Olmert said. Bush called Abbas "the president of all the Palestinians" and "a reasonable voice among the extremists."
Olmert and Abbas will meet next week, Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo told Palestinian radio Wednesday. Olmert's office confirmed the two would meet but said a date had not been set.
Hamas has found itself increasingly isolated diplomatically since its Gaza takeover, and has begun speaking publicly about dialogue with Fatah.
Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said Cairo had invited the Islamic group for talks with Fatah, and that Hamas "welcomed" the invitation. There was no immediate response from Fatah, but Abbas aides have said dialogue with Hamas would be impossible until the group restored power to the legitimate government.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni telephoned Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the new Cabinet that Abbas installed this week after expelling Hamas from its governing coalition with Fatah, the Foreign Ministry said.
Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki called conversation "positive" and said it would be followed up by another phone call "to reach a quick and useful solution to all of the issues that need coordination with the Israeli side."
Amid the internal turmoil, Palestinian militants have carried out occasional rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli communities bordering Gaza. Two rockets landed near the town of Sderot on Wednesday, causing no injuries or damage. Israel retaliated shortly after with an airstrike targeting the rocket launchers.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. No injuries were reported.
Israeli tanks, meanwhile, entered southern Gaza before dawn Wednesday, and four people, including at least two militants, were killed in a gunbattle, Palestinian hospital officials said.
The army said the entrance of the troops had been planned, was not a broad operation, and was meant to counter militant activity, including arms smuggling.
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AP correspondents Sarah El Deeb in Gaza City, Aron Heller in Washington, and Ali Daraghmeh in Jenin, West Bank, contributed to this report.
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