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Tuesday, 5 February 2008, 13:57 GMT

Two dead in Israeli raid in Gaza

Gazans by resealed border with Egypt The Israeli army says it has killed two members of the Hamas movement during a raid in the Gaza Strip.

An army spokesman said the soldiers opened fire on the Palestinian men near the town of Rafah.

The incursion comes a day after an Israeli woman was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Dimona, the first such attack in the country for a year.

Israeli police were on a heightened state of alert after the attack, especially on the border with Egypt.

Israeli troops frequently carry out raids in the Gaza Strip to hunt Palestinian militants.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired two unguided rockets into Israel on Tuesday morning, causing material damage. No injuries were immediately reported .

Graphic footage

It remains unclear whether the Dimona bombers came from Gaza or the West Bank, as different Palestinian militant groups have issued conflicting statements about their identity.

The latest group to say it was behind the bombing was the military wing of Hamas, in a statement to Reuters news agency, although Hamas political leaders denied involvement.

If the claim were confirmed, it would be the first suicide attack inside Israel by the group since 2004, when it introduced an informal ceasefire.

The bombers targeted a commercial area in the quiet town of Dimona
Bomb aftermath The claim said the bombers came from Hebron in the West Bank, in contrast to earlier claims by the rival al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades that they masterminded the attack using men from Gaza.

Graphic footage has been broadcast of the aftermath of the bombing; police push people back from the scene while an officer shoots dead a second Palestinian lying injured and apparently trying to detonate an explosives belt around his waist.

The Dimona attack came a day after Egypt ended the two-week breach of its border with the Gaza Strip by resealing the last gaps.

Also on Monday, a Palestinian was shot dead during a demonstration against the closure.

The Hamas movement which controls Gaza said it regretted the use of force by Egyptian troops guarding the border.

Gaza militants blew open the border between the coastal strip and Egypt on 23 January, a response to a punishing Israeli blockade of the territory that was aimed a stopping rocket attacks.



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