Israeli forces killed two Palestinian gunmen who ambushed a convoy today that was headed for a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli military sources said.
The sources said the attackers detonated a mine planted on the road to the Gush Katif settlement bloc and then opened fire on soldiers accompanying the truck before the soldiers shot the two men dead.
Palestinian witnesses said they heard an explosion but no gunfire in the roadside attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Shortly after the attack, mortar fire hit one of the Gush Katif settlements, a settler spokesman said. There was no immediate word on casualties.
The attack, which lightly wounded one person aboard a truck carrying Thai workers, was the latest incident violence that has all but destroyed US-led efforts to end more than 16 months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed.
At least 825 Palestinians and 249 Israelis have been killed in an uprising against Israeli occupation that erupted in September 2000 after peace talks broke down.
At talks in Egypt, Israeli Defence Minister Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said he had asked Egyptian President Mr Hosni Mubarak to pressure Mr Yasser Arafat to stop violence and rein in militants.