Israel struck back at Hamas militants in the wake of a suicide car-bombing attack on an Israel-Gaza border crossing, killing seven.
Five militants died Saturday and two others were killed early Sunday. Four other Hamas gunmen were wounded.
Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, visited the site of Saturday's attack at Kerem Shalom that wounded 13 Israeli soldiers and warned that Hamas would "bear the consequences."
However, a full military offensive appears unlikely.
Israel is celebrating the Jewish Passover holiday and will mark the country's 60th anniversary in May.
Hamas has said such attacks will continue as part of an effort to break Israel's siege of Gaza. Israel sealed the Palestinian territory after Hamas prevailed in a violent power struggle with Fatah, the faction loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In Damascus, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter met with senior Hamas leaders despite opposition from the Bush administration and Israel's government.
Hamas didn't respond to Carters request that its militants end their rocket attacks on Israel communities near Gaza or talk with Israel about a prisoner exchange.
Journalist's death
On Saturday, Human Rights Watch demanded that Israel investigate the death of a television cameraman and three others killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
The group said its own suggestion suggests that a tank crew fired either recklessly or deliberately at Fadel Shana, who worked for the Reuters news agency, and three others near him on Wednesday.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said it has evidence that a flechette tank shell, which sends tiny darts over a wide area, killed Shana.
The 23-year-old is the first Gaza journalist to die in the past eight years, but eight have died in the West Bank and Gaza since 1992. He was wearing a bulletproof jacket labelled "press" and had "TV" signs on his vehicle.
"Israeli soldiers did not make sure they were aiming at a military target before firing," said Joe Stork, from Human Rights Watch. "There is evidence suggesting they actually targeted the journalists."
There was fighting going on, but Shana wasn't near any battles when he died. Reuters released footage Shana shot of a tank on a distant hillside, with the picture turning black a second later.
Israel's military has said it will investigate the incident, but will continue to use flechette shells.
Rights groups have said the shells are inappropriate for a densely populated area like the Gaza Strip.
With files from The Associated Press
