Israel's aircraft have struck a number of targets in Gaza after it vowed a severe response to rocket attacks on its soil.
A Hamas commander died in an attack on a car and another militant was killed in a housing unit, both in Gaza City.
A raid on a Hamas office also killed one person and injured at least 45.
The attacks came as efforts to end five days of fighting between rivals Hamas and Fatah again appeared to fail. At least 40 people have now died.
Correspondents say the rocket attacks into Israel appear to be an attempt to draw it into an internal Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads Fatah, on Thursday suddenly called off a trip to Gaza that had been billed as an effort to shore up the fourth Hamas-Fatah ceasefire in five days.
Officials said he might now travel from Ramallah in the West Bank on Friday.
The BBC's Magdi Abdelhadi says control of the security forces appears to have been the trigger for the latest factional fighting but that it has now developed a momentum of its own.
Armed supporters on the ground may no longer be paying attention to orders from their political leadership, he adds.
On Thursday, US President George W Bush said both he and visiting UK Prime Minister Tony Blair were urging all parties to work for peace.
Source: BBC News
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