GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip ? The Hamas-led government said Tuesday it will pay partial salaries to its 165,000 employees, the first payday for some Palestinian workers in three months. The announcement came after thousands of angry workers staged an anti-government protest. Salaries have not been paid since a cutoff of Western aid and Israeli tax transfers after the militant Islamic movement took over the Palestinian government.

Meanwhile, Israel sent soldiers deep into Gaza for the first time Tuesday since its pullout last summer, ambushing an Islamic Jihad rocket squad and killing three militants in a battle that included missiles fire from an Israeli helicopter.