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Two Palestinians killed in Gaza | Two Palestinians killed in Gaza |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Israeli forces have killed two Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian officials say. | Israeli forces have killed two Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian officials say. |
The two men, members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, died in a clash with Israeli troops in the south near Khan Younis. | The two men, members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, died in a clash with Israeli troops in the south near Khan Younis. |
The Israeli army said its troops were on an operation in the area to destroy "terrorist infrastructure". | The Israeli army said its troops were on an operation in the area to destroy "terrorist infrastructure". |
This comes as Hamas officials are in Cairo to hold talks on a prisoner swap with Israel over a captured soldier. | |
The two men killed were brothers Mohammed and Shadi al-Najar, according to Palestinian officials. | |
Three other Palestinians were wounded in the fighting, which took place in the village of Khouza. | |
Soldiers fired on armed men who appeared to be planting a bomb, Israeli military officials said. | |
Cairo talks | |
Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza since late June, following the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants. | Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza since late June, following the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants. |
Israeli-Palestinian violence has increased in recent weeks | |
Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured on 25 June after militants led an attack into Israel. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack. | |
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible prisoner exchange in return for his release. | |
The delegation, led by Hamas' representative in Damascus, Imad al-Alami, is expected to meet Egyptian intelligence officials. | |
Egypt has been acting as a mediator since Cpl Shalit's capture. | |
Palestinian officials indicated some progress had been made on an exchange, but reports suggested differences remained over timing, numbers and the identity of the prisoners. | |
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday that no exchange would take place while Cpl Shalit remained in captivity. | |
"I can't release prisoners so long as Gilad Shalit is captured," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying. | |
Israel intensified its military campaign in Gaza following Cpl Shalit's capture, and the strip has been cut off from the outside world for long periods of time. | |
Since the end of June 2006, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli army operations in Gaza and the West Bank, according to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. |