Two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces

Israeli forces this evening killed two members of the Palestinian security services in the Gaza Strip, while US President George…

Israeli forces this evening killed two members of the Palestinian security services in the Gaza Strip, while US President George W Bush repeated his promise to publish a long-awaited "roadmap" for Middle East peace.

Iyad Khalil Fayad and Ihab Jarras were killed during an Israeli raid on the town of Beit Hanun that left another 15 Palestinians wounded, two of them seriously, Palestinian officials said.

Tanks backed by a helicopter gunship had entered Beit Hanun earlier and surrounded a position of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Force-17 elite bodyguards, wounding one of them, Palestinian security sources had said.

Israeli public radio, citing a military source, said the raid was aimed at nabbing Palestinians suspected of planning anti-Israeli attacks.

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The deaths brought the toll of nearly 30 months of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians to 3,113, including 2,336 Palestinians and 719 Israelis.

Later, three homemade Qassam rockets were fired from inside the north of the Gaza Strip into the Israeli town of Sderot, the Israeli military said, but did no damage. The attacks were claimed by the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade, the armed wing of the radical Muslim group Hamas in retaliation for the dawn raid on Beit Hanun.

In the West Bank, 22 Palestinians were arrested in sweeps overnight, a military source said, and eight makeshift bombs seized in Jenin.

AFP