Two Palestinians Killed Trying To Place Bomb Near Gaza Settlement

GAZA CITY, Aug 17 (AFP) - Two Palestinian militants were shot dead by the Israeli army while trying to plant a bomb near a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical and security sources told AFP.
The two were named as Saadi Duhan, 20, and Shaadi Alakan, 20, both of whom came from Khan Yunis and belonged to Aburish, a small militant group whose stronghold is in southern Gaza and which is close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, they said.
A statement made earlier by the Aburish group confirmed that two of its fighters had been "martyred" in an operation targeting the Mitzpe Atzmoma settlement.
The latest deaths brought the overall number of those killed since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, to 4,236, including 3,238 Palestinians and 927 Israelis, according to an AFP toll.
Earlier, the army said soldiers had shot the two men who had been spotted in an unauthorised zone close to the security fence surrounding the Gush Katif settlement bloc.
However, their bodies were not discovered and returned to the Palestinians until later on Tuesday.