Mourners attend the funeral of Tali Hatuel, 34, who was eight months' pregnant, and her four daughters, aged two to 11. CREDIT: Ariel Schalit, The Associated Press

TEL AVIV - Palestinian gunmen shot and killed a pregnant Jewish settler and four of her children in Gaza yesterday as Israel's ruling Likud Party was holding a referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull out of the area.

Tali Hatuel, who was eight months pregnant, had been driving her Citroen along a nearly empty, palm-fringed road when two gunmen opened fire on her car with automatic rifles. In the panic, she lost control and lurched off the road.

The gunmen rushed towards her firing their weapons, shooting through the windows at point-blank range. There was no chance of escape for the 34-year-old mother or her children -- Hila, 11; Hadar, nine; Roni, seven; and Merav, two.

Some of the children were still strapped to their baby seats when rescue workers arrived.

They found the car riddled with bullets and the carpets drenched in blood.

A sticker taped to the car read: "Uprooting the settlements, victory for terror."

It later emerged that Ms. Hatuel, a care worker in a Gaza settlement, had been on her way to protest against Mr. Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza.

Moments before the attack, a CNN television crew came under fire from the same gunmen.

After fleeing the terrorists, they attempted to warn and stop unsuspecting Israeli civilian vehicles, but could not stop Ms. Hatuel, who drove past them.

"Four of us in the CNN crew were driving from Israel on the main road going into the Gush Katif settlement bloc in Gaza," Paula Hancocks told Israel Radio.

"We came under fire. Multiple rounds were fired at our car, the first one an armoured car that I was in.

"My producer, sitting on the near side, said he saw two gunmen shooting and running towards our armoured car. Behind, our cameraman was in a non- armoured car, in a normal Land Rover. He was also shot at but luckily he escaped unhurt.

"We drove on to the nearest army checkpoint, told them what happened, stopped the cars from coming the other way. Then they sent the soldiers and the ambulances in to see what had happened."

An explosive device was detonated near the site of the shooting when Israeli soldiers began chasing the gunmen, but it caused no injuries.

An Israeli sniper killed one of the gunmen and troops called to the scene pursued the second man and shot him dead. Two of the soldiers were wounded during the exchange of fire.

Terrorists from Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hamas all claimed responsibility for what they described as a "heroic" attack.

The gunmen were named as Ibrahim Hamed and Faisal Abuntera, residents of Rafah in southern Gaza. Israeli military officials confirmed that different groups participated in the attacks.

The Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian umbrella group, said the attack was in response to Israel's recent assassinations of the founder of the Hamas militant group, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi.

An Israeli Cabinet minister, Gideon Ezra, said the attack underscored the hopeless burden of staying in Gaza.

"Our soldiers can't be in every car that moves in the Gaza Strip," he said.

"Thousands of soldiers are required to protect" the settlers, he said. "I would put our soldiers in other places."

Hours later, Israeli helicopters fired three missiles into Gaza City, wounding at least two people. The missiles hit a 12-storey building known as the Palestine Tower and housing a Hamas radio station.

The killing of Ms. Hatuel and her children and the two gunmen brought to 3,958 the number of people killed since the Palestinian intifada broke out in September, 2001, including 2,983 Palestinians and 905 Israelis.

The Yesha Council of Settlements, the settlers' main governing body, vowed to continue campaigning against the withdrawal.

"The terrorist who assassinated five Jews near Kissufim would like to drive us out of our homes. But in spite of this painful bereavement, we will continue to urge Likud members not to reward assassins," it said.