"President Mahmud Abbas has strongly condemned the Israeli massacre that has left six martyrs and nearly 40 wounded in Beit Hanun," his office said in a statement issued in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.
Branding the operation an "odious crime", Abbas called on the "occupation government to cease immediately all hostile actions against our people".
The president also appealed to the international community to "intervene rapidly to put an end to these aggressions and stop a new deterioration" in the regional situation.
Haniya, speaking at the opening of an emergency meeting of his Hamas-led cabinet in Gaza City, condemned the "Israeli escalation and massacre" as part of "pressure exerted on our people and its government".
"The massacre is the first consequence of Lieberman joining the Israeli government," he charged.
Ultra-right politician Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, took office as Israel's first strategic affairs minister on Monday.
Notorious for his stance, Israeli media reported that during Wednesday's security cabinet meeting Lieberman suggested that the Israeli army should apply tactics used by the Russian army in Chechnya, to the Gaza Strip.
Six Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in northern Gaza after Israeli infantry units backed by tanks seized control of the town of Beit Hanun and partially reoccupied nearby Beit Lahiya and refugee camp of Jabaliya.
An Israeli soldier was also killed in Beit Hanun by Palestinian gunfire.
Israel said the incursion -- which comes after weeks of warnings that the Jewish state could enlarge its four-month offensive in the territory -- was aimed at stopping rocket fire by militants in the strip.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006