Israeli forces killed four Palestinians Tuesday who landed on a beach in southern Israel a short distance from the Gaza Strip and attacked a military base, the army said.

"A number of terrorists came out of the ocean and attacked the base with Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades," spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said.

Soldiers at the base, near the Zikim kibbutz, killed two of the attackers, warplanes a third and naval forces the fourth, Lerner said.

One soldier was lightly wounded, he added.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas, reported the attack. It said nothing of losses among its own forces but claimed heavy Israeli casualties.

It said it fired 10 katyusha rockets at the Israeli base.

The attack came as Israel waged an aerial campaign against militants in Gaza, who were firing rockets into southern Israel.

Lerner said some 120 rockets had hit Israel, with 23 intercepted. Most of the rest fell on open ground and causing no damage or casualties, he said.

In addition to the dead militants at Zikim, Israeli air strikes against at least 150 targets inside Gaza killed 17 people and injured at least 90 on Tuesday, medics said, including children.

This article was edited by Ahram Online