(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-13 21:32

JERUSALEM -- Roughly 1,000 Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip had been killed by Israel over the past two years, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin was quoted by daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth as saying on Sunday.

According to the report, speaking at the cabinet's weekly security briefing, Diskin said the Israeli military and Shin Bet forces had killed roughly 1,000 "terrorists" in various operations in Gaza in the past two years.

Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter also noted on Sunday that "about five percent of the militants in the Gaza Strip were killed," adding that the total number of militants operating in the Strip was estimated at some 20,000.

Dichter called on the government to "change the method of action so that the attrition warfare against Sderot (an Israeli town adjacent to Gaza) and the Gaza vicinity communities will cease."

On Saturday, Israel Air Force aircraft struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip, killing two Hamas militants and wounding four others. The attack followed a barrage of five mortar shells on the western Negev.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert briefed the ministers about his meeting with US President George W. Bush during his recent visit to Israel.

"The US is committed to the fact that no Israeli-Palestinian agreement can come into effect before the Roadmap is fully implemented, especially when is comes to the safety and security of Israel," Olmert told cabinet.

The Roadmap plan, known for its vision of two-state solution, was declared in 2002 by Bush who called for creating a viable and democratic Palestinian statehood alongside Israel which should be secured.

The first phase of the US-backed roadmap plan calls on the Palestinians to crack down on militants while demanding that Israel halt Jewish settlement activity and uproot illegal outposts.