Tel Aviv, Nov 02: Tens of thousands of Israelis commemorated the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in a show of support for a long-stalled peace process. Also yesterday, Palestinian leaders cautiously welcomed Israeli offers to welcome peace talks.

Before dawn today, three Palestinians neared the Israel-Gaza border fence near the Sufa crossing, the army said. They dug in the sand near the fence, as though they were trying to plant a bomb, and soldiers fired on them, the army said. Two of the Palestinians were hit, but their condition was unknown, the army said. Searches were take place with daybreak, the army said. The rally took place in the Tel Aviv Plaza where Rabin was fatally shot on November 4, 1995, by an extremist Jew opposed to his peace efforts.

A large picture of Rabin hung behind the stage, with the words "eight years since the murder." Many of the people in the crowd carried banners saying "there is no other way." Peace now, a veteran activist group, hung a large sign, and a handful of people held signs saying, "Sharon go home."

Opposition leader Shimon Peres, who was with Rabin at the plaza moments before he was gunned down, told the crowd that he felt his old partner's presence at every memorial rally. Bureau Report