ISRAEL continued its murderous campaign of repression today with the killing of demonstrators in the West Bank and continued air raids in Gaza.

Four Palestinians were killed in the West Bank — two shot by Israeli troops and the other by settlers.

Israeli soldiers shot dead Hashem Abu Marieh and another man in the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar near Hebron.

In the second shooting, Israeli settlers fired on a group of Palestinians in Nablus, killing 18-year-old Khaled Oudeh and wounding four others.

Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene and their fire killed a forth man.

A pregnant woman was among the morning's casualties in Gaza in a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes.

Surgeons managed to save her unborn child, but a 12-year-old and 15-year-old were among those killed in the strike on Rafah.

Israeli aircraft struck 30 houses in Gaza, killing Islamic Jihad leader Salah Hassanein and two of his sons.

The West Bank deaths came as Israeli riot police charged down skirmishes near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during a lockdown on Friday prayers.

Israeli security forces were put on heightened alert and deployed in and around Jerusalem's Old City after Palestinians declared yesterday a "day of rage."

Only men aged over 50 were allowed into al-Aqsa mosque after a massive protest in the West Bank on Thursday night saw the deaths of two Palestinians.

At least 10,000 Palestinians had protested against the killings in Gaza. 

Palestinian security and medical officials said that two protesters had been shot dead in Qalandiya, between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

They said 150 people had been wounded by Israeli fire, with five of them still in critical condition.

Palestinians and troops also clashed around the West Bank cities of Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem and Tulkarem.

The confrontations came on Laylat al-Qadr, or Night of Destiny, when Muslims pray through the night as Ramadan nears its end.

Both Palestinian activists and Israel Radio said the protest appeared to be the largest since the end of the 2000-2005 uprising.

In Gaza, the overall death toll topped 826 after 115 Palestinians were killed on Thursday.