Hamas militants die in Gaza raid

The funerals for the Hamas militants were held on Wednesday

Israel has carried out a helicopter attack on the north of the Gaza Strip in which six militants were killed, Palestinian hospital sources say.

Three of the dead were believed to be members of the Hamas Islamist group.

An Israeli army spokesman says the attack was launched after militants fired missiles at Israeli troops operating in the area.

Israel has carried out numerous raids which it says are aimed at stopping the firing of rockets into Israel.

Eleven others were injured in the Israeli strike, Palestinian medics say.

Palestinian eyewitnesses say the Israeli forces that came under attack from the militants were 400m from the northern border of the strip.

West Bank arrests

Also on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had detained 10 suspected Palestinian militants in raids in the West Bank.

The official Palestinian news agency said five boys had been held in raids around the towns of Tulkarm and Salfit.

It said two were 16 years old, and described the others as pupils at a local secondary school.

It is not immediately clear if the Israeli and Palestinian accounts referred to the same incidents.

Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June last year when it defeated forces supporting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who now controls the West Bank.

Fatah protest

Fatah members shave their heads in solidarity with a Gaza colleague

Also on Wednesday, West Bank leaders of the Fatah movement shaved their heads in solidarity with a colleague in the Gaza Strip, Ibrahim Abu al-Naja, who had his head and facial hair shaven by Hamas members.

"If Hamas wants to humiliate our Fatah leaders in Gaza by cutting their moustaches, we want to tell them today that moustaches are not a symbol of masculinity any more," former Fatah member of parliament Borhan Jarrar told the Associated Press.

"Shame on Hamas for doing that," he added.

Hamas have denied that its members shaved the man's head and face.