Israel kills two in Gaza, several hurt in Tel Aviv attack

Israel soldiers shot dead two Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, and at least 10 people were wounded in a separate suspected…

Israel soldiers shot dead two Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, and at least 10 people were wounded in a separate suspected suicide attack on Tel Aviv this morning.

A police official said the Tel Aviv bombing was carried out by a man on a motorcycle. The attack happened near an old bus station that was immediately cordoned off by police.

The two Palestinians, members of Hamas, were killed as they tried to infiltrate a Jewish settlement.

They were detected by an army patrol as they tried to infiltrate a community in the Gush Katif settlement bloc of the southern Gaza Strip. The two were killed in an exchange of gunfire, according to Israeli army officials.

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Palestinian security sources accused the army of "finishing off" the two men after they were wounded in the gunfight.

Sources close to Hamas identified the militants as Ahmad Abdel Wahab and Raed Agha, without giving their ages.

The suicide attack in Tel Aviv, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility came after Hamas vowed revenge for the Israeli military's killing of one of its militants in a helicopter strike late yesterday.

Baker Hamdan (26) died when an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at his car, also wounding two passengers, security officials said.

An Israeli army spokesman claimed Mr Hamdan was the chief of Hamas' military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassem Brigades, in Khan Yunis and he was linked to the killing of four Israeli soldiers on the edge of southern Gaza.

"Hamas will not keep its arms crossed in the face of the assassination of one its members and the resistance will carry on until the liberation [of Palestine]", a Hamas official said.

The Israeli army this morning temporarily re-occupied the area of Khan Yunis where the two Hamas men in the infiltration bid originated.

Earlier, two Hamas activists were arrested by the Israeli army near Nablus in Palestinian-controlled territory of the West Bank. Witnesses said they were arrested at home and evacuated by helicopter from the village of Talluza.

AFP