Gaza city, Mar 26: Two Palestinian militants from the radical Hamas movement who swam up to a bloc of Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip were killed by Israeli soldiers overnight, sources on both sides said on Friday.
They were spotted wading ashore near Gush Katif and died in an exchange of fire, the spokesman said. The soldiers found weapons, including anti-tank rockets, near the bodies, a military spokesman said.
In a statement sent to AFP here, Hamas military wing, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the thwarted attack and said it was conducted to avenge Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
The statement named the dead attackers as Zakaria Abu Zur and Ishaq Nassar, both of them aged 18, and claimed that the operation had caused casualties among the settlers.
Bureau Reoport