Israeli troops kill Palestinian worker, militant in Gaza

Suleiman al-Hamaydah and Mohammed Zeid Dukhan, both aged around 20, were shot dead in the Deir al-Balah area near the security barrier separating the southern Gaza Strip and Israel.

Security sources said that Hamaydah was trying to sneak into Israel to find work, while Dukhan, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees umbrella militant organisation, was killed a little while later while trying to plant a bomb, faction sources said.

He was the son of Abdelfattah Dukhan, one of the main leaders of Hamas in Gaza who was elected to parliament a month ago.

An Israeli army spokesman said troops had opened fire at a number of suspect figures near the barrier, killing one and "hitting" another. A third Palestinian who was arrested in the area was found unarmed, he added.

The latest deaths brought the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising to 4,967, according to an AFP count. The vast majority of those killed have been Palestinian.

Meanwhile, medical sources and witnesses said three other Palestinians were wounded when an Israeli drone fired two missiles at two vehicles near Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said the air strike had targeted "terrorists who were preparing to fire rockets", adding that the force of the blast indicated it would have been carrying explosives.

Also in Gaza, a leading member of the Hamas military wing died Friday in an accidental explosion during a training exercise.

A statement from the armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed that Abed Abu Daf had been been killed during "an operation training mujahedeen members". Witnesses said that an explosive device had exploded prematurely.

Despite honouring a ceasefire for over a year and winning a general eleciton last month, Hamas maintains its "right to resist" Israel and has snubbed calls to disarm.

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