Israeli forces on Sunday killed two Palestinians from the Hamas resistance movement who had earlier slain a Jewish settler and wounded several others, Israeli military sources said, quoted on public radio.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite channel.
A group of Palestinians had infiltrated into a sector near the Jewish settlement of Alei Sinai in the northern Gaza Strip, triggering a firefight with troops, army radio said earlier.
The Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper said four people were wounded in the attack, which came hours after a suicide attack in occupied Jerusalem that which killed 10 and wounded at least 180.
The paper said that after firing on the car, the gunmen fled to a firing range used by the Israeli army and which is located between the settlements of Alei Sinai and Nisanit. A gunbattle ensued during which an Israel tank found and killed both gunmen. Army Radio reported that the two were dressed in Israeli army uniforms.
Three mortars were fired at settlements in Gaza in the course of Sunday morning. There were no injuries, added the paper.
The Israeli policy of settling huge swathes of land seized from Palestinians in 1967 is one of the major causes of the current uprising.
According to the UK-based magazine The Economist, Israel has "flouted" the 1993 Oslo peace accords by flooding land formerly owned by Palestinians with its own citizens – Albawaba.com
