A Palestinian suicide bomber killed an Israeli border policeman at Gaza's main crossing into Israel on Saturday, in the first such attack since Israel won US backing for a unilateral Gaza pullout plan.
Three Israeli military officers were wounded in the bombing, the army said. The bomber killed himself.
The Hamas group, behind scores of suicide attacks in a 3 1/2-year old Palestinian uprising, and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed joint responsibility for the Erez crossing bombing.
SOLIDARITY DAY: A top Islamic militant called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers to trade them for Palestinian prisoners, as thousands rallied across the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday to demand freedom for loved ones behind bars.
The protests, part of an annual event for an estimated 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, were fuelled by anger over US President George W. Bush's backing for an Israeli plan to retain parts of the occupied West Bank after a Gaza pullout.
Some 10,000 Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza City to mark the annual day of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.
They marched with banners behind a mock jail surrounded by barbed-wire mounted on a truck, while thousands attended protests staged throughout the West Bank.
"No peace without the release of all the prisoners," read a huge banner displayed in the West Bank town of Tulkarm. In Hebron, militants called for more attacks on Israelis.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath urged Israel to agree to a "total" release of prisoners. Such a step would be essential to renewing peace efforts, he told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
In the Gaza Strip, Abdullah al-Shami, a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group called for kidnapping Israeli soldiers as a tactic to ensure the release of prisoners.
"The policy of kidnapping Zionist soldiers should be adopted," said Shami, whose group had carried out numerous suicide bombings against Israelis. He said militants "are working on this."
Israel in January freed hundreds of Palestinians among some 400 prisoners released under a deal with the Lebanese Hizbollah group in exchange for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers.
Hours before Saturday's protests, Islamic Jihad militants issued a statement that one of its members had been killed in a "holy war" action near the West Bank city of Nablus.
Israel army radio said the blast in Askar refugee camp on Friday night occurred while the Palestinian who was killed was preparing a bomb.