FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now to the Middle East. Four Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli operation in Gaza. CNN's Sheila MacVicar joins us from Gaza City with the details -- hello, Sheila.</s>SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The Israeli incursion began in the early hours of this morning, the Israeli forces saying that they went in to target two families in two homes. They say that their intention was to carry out arrests. The Israelis also say that they had intelligence information which led them to believe that people in those houses were imminently preparing to carry out attacks. They say one of them was scheduled for this morning. In the event, there was a firefight. Four Palestinians are dead. Four others are in Israeli custody. We are told that at least two Israeli soldiers have been wounded. Now, the apparent target of this raid is a man who is known to be a senior Hamas military leader, a man who in the local parlance is called an engineer, someone who is a master bomb maker and weapons deviser. We are told that he evaded arrest and we are also -- of course, the implication here, Fredricka, the larger implication is given the kinds of intra-Palestinian discussions, the discussions amongst the Palestinian militant factions which have been taking place talking about the prospect for a cease-fire, the big question is what does this event do to any possibility of a Palestinian militant cease- fire? Talking to one of the Hamas leaders a short while ago, one of their senior spokesmen, he told me that there have been discussions amongst the militant factions as recently as yesterday that clearly, given last night's events, that they would have to reevaluate, they would have to have further discussions and that there was as yet no commitment to a Palestinian militant cease-fire. At the same time, Fredricka, on another track, we have talks between Israelis and Palestinians and we are told those are proceeding well -- Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Sheila MacVicar, thanks very much.
Four Palestinians Killed in Israeli Operation in Gaza