GAZA CITY, Aug 28, 2006 (AFP) - The Israeli army killed four Palestinians in Gaza Monday, keeping up a two-month offensive in the coastal strip aimed at recovering a seized soldier who marked his 20th birthday still in captivity.
The four were killed in Gaza City's eastern Shejaya neighborhood and included two 'militants' from the ruling Islamist Hamas movement and two members of president Mahmud Abbas's presidential guard, security officials said.
Palestinian security officials said the four were killed by an Israeli drone. The Israeli army said two were killed in exchange of fire with troops and two by an air strike.
Medics discovered the body of another Palestinian, Fathi Abu al-Qumbarz, 50, at his home in Shejaya.
Abu al-Qumbarz had been wounded by automatic gunfire while inside his home during Israeli operations in the area on Saturday, hospital officials said.
At least 192 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed in the offensive in the Gaza Strip, which entered its third month Monday.
Israel launched the massive operation to stop rocket attacks and recover the conscript captured by Palestinian 'militants' in a cross-border raid that left two other soldiers dead.
The armed wing of Hamas was among three groups that claimed responsibility for the raid and has demanded that Israel free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit.
A spokesman for the Hamas-led government said that Shalit was safe and sound on his birthday.
'I can say that he is safe and sound,' Ghazi Hamad told Israeli public radio. 'I confirmed this to his father with whom I am in contact.
'Efforts are continuing with a view to an exchange' of prisoners with Israel for the soldier, he added.
Shalit's family and friends were due to mark his birthday at the spot where he was captured.
'We are not going to celebrate and are doing everything possible to work toward his liberation,' the soldier's father, Noam, told Israeli radio.
In an open letter published in the Maariv daily, Shalit's neighbors from Mizpeh Hilla in northern Israel wrote: 'We hope to see you very soon and that the prime minister and his government do everything possible for this.'
Although Israel has insisted on an unconditional release of Shalit, media reports say negotiations over a prisoner swap are under way.
Egypt's state-owned Al-Ahram daily on Sunday reported that Germany was helping to broker a prisoner swap for two other Israeli soldiers held by Lebanese 'militants' of Hezbollah that could pave the way for Shalit's release.
'The prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel is to take place within two or three weeks maximum, thanks to a German mediation which is currently arranging the details of the exchange,' Al-Ahram said, citing high-ranking officials.
'Once a Hezbollah-Israel deal is reached, the Shalit problem could be solved' even before the other two soldiers are freed, Al-Ahram said.
Germany brokered a January 2004 deal which saw Israel exchange some 429 Arab prisoners for the release of an Israeli businessman captured by Hezbollah and the remains of three soldiers.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in Berlin on Monday. Immediately after a ceasefire took effect on the ground in Lebanon, she said her government was willing to negotiate for its soldiers' release.