GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Israel's complete closure of the Gaza Strip began to take its toll on residents as the army kept up its strikes on the Hamas-ruled territory, killing two militants in a pre-dawn raid.

Israel announced on Thursday it would close all crossings into and out of Gaza for several days to all but essential humanitarian aid, intensifying its almost two-year siege of the territory aimed at stemming sporadic rocket fire.
In the Shaata refugee camp in Gaza City the already weary residents, most of whom survive on UN food aid, braced for even more hardship.
""I have eight children, and me and my wife make 10. We will die of hunger. There is no work, nothing,"" says Hamidu, 40, a mechanic in the camp who declined to give his last name.
""Every week the situation has gotten worse. But the blockade is not against Fatah or Hamas, it is against the entire Palestinian people.""
Israel kept up its assault on Saturday, killing at least two Hamas militants in an air strike north of Gaza City and launching a second strike that left no casualties.
Israel has escalated operations in Gaza since last week, killing at least 36 resistance fighters in the biggest flare-up of violence since Hamas took power in June.
An Israeli army spokesman said four Hamas resistance fighters were captured overnight Friday in Jabaliya camp, north of Gaza City. Sources close to Hamas confirmed the report and 10 people arrested.
The Israeli army also reported that eight rockets were fired at Israel on Saturday, but said only three hit the Jewish state causing no casualties.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad meanwhile called for ""international protection"" for residents of the Gaza Strip, and criticized anew the firing of rockets into Israel which he said ""only brought misfortune... for our people.""
""The international community must intervene to stop the Israeli aggression and offer international protection to our people who are facing the tyranny of occupation,"" Fayyad said.
A senior official from the UN agency for refugees, which on Friday was prevented from bringing in a shipment of humanitarian aid, warned meanwhile about the impact of the closures on the impoverished Strip.
""We have stocks of food for two months in our warehouses but we must plan for interruptions to crossings, and the demand will continue to escalate if the crossings remain closed,"" John Ging, the UNRWA's Gaza director, told AFP.
More than a million people in Gaza -- two-thirds of the territory's total population -- rely on the UNRWA food system, which Ging said only provides basic staples such as oil, lentils, and rice.
As news of the new measures spread, residents across the Gaza Strip stocked up on diesel fuel, leaving several service stations empty.
""We have already run out of diesel and we can only supply gasoline for two hours a day,"" gas station owner Ibrahim al-Berberi told AFP.
A European Union official involved in fuel shipments to Gaza told AFP on condition of anonymity that supplies were halted on Friday and that Israel would reassess the closures today.