Syria denounced yesterday plans by Israel to double the number of settlers in the Golan Heights to tighten the Jewish state's grip over the plateau seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

"There is no recognition for this measure. Israel is deluded that it can achieve something by relying on power and occupation," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Isa Daweesh told Reuters.

"Practically, Israel cannot gain anything out of this move because it is not legitimate."

Israeli Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz said Wednesday the right-wing government had agreed on the plan to solidify its hold over the strategic heights before opening any peace negotiations with Syria.

Asked if Israel's move was a step to pre-empt any future peace negotiations between the two countries, Daweesh said: "Conflicts are not resolved through power, they should be resolved under international law."

Israel conquered the Golan

Heights in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed it in 1981, a move condemned internationally. About 17,000 Jewish settlers now live in the Golan.

Syria rejected Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981 and demands all Israeli-occupied lands be returned before any peace agreement. U.S.-brokered negotiations between Syria and Israel broke down in 2000.

AP from Gaza city: An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a car carrying militants from the violent Islamic Hamas, wounding 11 people despite earlier reports that Israel and the militant group had reached an agreement to halt violence.

Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said Israel would pay a heavy price for Tuesday's attack.

"These massacres and crimes prove that Israel is seeking violence and not looking for peace, security and stability," he told Associated Press Television News.

The attack after nightfall ended a two-month hiatus that had led to the reports that Israel and Hamas had reached an informal agree-

ment Hamas would halt attacks inside Israel, and the Israelis would stop targeting Hamas leaders. The agreement, if it existed, appeared in jeopardy after the air strike.

As recently as Friday, the commander of the Israeli military, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon was quoted by an Israeli paper as saying Hamas had stopped attacks inside Israel, crediting Israeli military strikes for cowing the group. Israeli security sources said at the same time that Israel would hold off on attacks against Hamas.

However, after Tuesday's air strike, Israel's military issued a statement saying the targets were "senior Hamas terrorists ... actively engaged in planning terror attacks."

Witnesses said the two missiles missed a car in which two people were riding and the men escaped. It was not clear if the men were among the wounded. Hamas officials said one of them was a midlevel commander, Jamal Jara.

The Apache helicopters opened fire as the Fiat was traveling toward the Sheik Radwan neighborhood, a Hamas stronghold, witnesses said.