Israel on Tuesday informed the Palestinian side in Gaza that all the commercial crossings between the Gaza Strip and the Jewish state had been shut down.

The Israeli decision to shut down all Gaza commercial border crossings came shortly after anonymous militants killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three others in an attack near the Kissufim border crossing into the middle part of the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Ra'ed Fatouh, the crossings coordinator of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Gaza, said in a statement that Israel on Tuesday called off its initial plan to reopen two key commercial crossing.

Israel informed the Palestinian side on Monday night that it intends to reopen two key Gaza commercial crossings, said Fatouh, adding that the aim of reopening the crossing was to allow more humanitarian aids into the impoverished and badly damaged enclave.

"This morning, just right after the attack, the Israeli side informed us that the two crossings won't be reopened until a further notice," he said.

Fatouh said "this would mean that humanitarian aids and fuels won't be allowed into the Gaza Strip through the two crossings."

The Gaza border crossings with Israel are completely controlled by the Jewish state, which has conducted a 22-day massive offensive on the enclave.

Earlier in the day, one Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack on an Israeli armored vehicle near the Kissufim crossing in an area east of the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army immediately retaliated and shot dead a Palestinian farmer, who was working at his farm in the area, according to Palestinian witnesses.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2009)