Three Palestinians were reported killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip Saturday as French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called for the international community to mobilize for Middle East peace.

A Palestinian woman, Randa al-Hindi, 40, and her two-year-old daughter Nour were killed near Gaza City on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire on their car, Palestinian medical sources said.

However an Israeli military spokesman denied there had been any shooting in the area near the Netzarim junction.

Earlier, Palestinian medical and security sources told AFP a Palestinian man was killed in his home when Israeli troops opened fire on houses in the southern Gaza Strip.

Khamees Shurab, 45, died after being hit in the head, chest and leg when Israeli troops fired heavy machine-guns on a group of houses in the eastern outskirts of Khan Yunis, they said.

The firing came from an area close to the Jewish settlement of Morag, they said, adding that a number of other houses in the area were lightly damaged.

The army said it was not aware of any such incidents in the area.

In the West Bank Palestinian sources said Israeli armored vehicles on Saturday surrounded the hospital in Jenin in a search for two Palestinian militants who had attacked their forces.

Army officers told the hospital's deputy director Nader Arshed that they would track down the fighters in the hospital, which neighbors the refugee camp where bloody battles took place in April, hospital officials told AFP.

The deputy director replied that no fighters were inside.

Witnesses reported that at least some of the estimated ten armored vehicles had opened fire in the area with heavy machine guns. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Witnesses said the manhunt was launched after the two militants had fired an explosive at an Israeli patrol from a building under construction near the hospital.