Israeli helicopter gunships struck two metal foundries in the Gaza Strip yesterday, hours after two local Palestinian militants killed 10 people in a suicide attack on Israel?s second-biggest port.

Palestinian witnesses said one man was wounded when at least 10 missiles slammed into foundries in the Gaza City districts of Sheikh Radwan and Zeitoun, both Islamic militant bastions.

The Israeli military, whose helicopters have often hit leaders of a more than three-year-old Palestinian revolt in Gaza and the West Bank, said the foundries were used to arm Hamas. The Islamic militant group did not immediately comment.

Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat?s Fatah faction, jointly claimed responsibility for Sunday?s double suicide bombing at Ashdod port that killed 10 people and wounded at least 20 others.

The bombings took place just as aides of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie were wrapping up talks to arrange a long-awaited summit on reviving a plan for reciprocal steps meant to lead to a Palestinian state in return for peace.

The Israelis called off further contacts that had been planned for yesterday ahead of a possible summit this week.

The Palestinian Authority, which denounced Sunday?s bombings, called on Israel to stick to a US-led ?road map? to peace which has been battered by bloodshed.

?Violence is a failed policy...and the only way out is serious, credible... negotiations,? Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi told CNN television.

<B>Northern Gaza plunged into darkness</B>

Yesterday?s early morning air strike knocked out power lines and plunged much of northern Gaza into darkness, complicating the work of rescue crews that searched the debris and dust.

A missile fired in the direction of a Reuters crew pulled up at the last moment and blew up harmlessly in the sky. According to security sources, Israeli helicopters use missiles with cameras mounted in their noses which allow the pilot to ?see? the target and abort if there are too many bystanders nearby.

Sunday?s bombings were the first by Palestinians from fenced-in Gaza since violence erupted in September 2000. Security sources said the bombers may have tunnelled their way out or reached Ashdod, 40 km away, by sea.

Palestinian militants had vowed revenge after Israeli troops killed 14 people in a Gaza raid on March 7. ?The killing of Jews has become a form of worship that gets us close to God,? al-Aqsa bomber Nabil Mas?oud in a pre-recorded videotape.

Israel has vowed to take unilateral ?disengagement steps? that would involve a withdrawal from Gaza, but also cost Palestinians some of the land they want for a state if negotiations remain hobbled.