Israeli airstrike kills two militants in Gaza

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian militants in their car in Gaza City yesterday, witnesses and medics said.

The army had no immediate comment on the attack. Israel has often targeted gunmen in missile strikes in Gaza during four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Witnesses said dozens of Palestinians rushed to a morgue to see the bodies of the dead, which were completely burned from the blast. Shouting "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)," they fired guns in the air in anger.

Violence and political tensions over Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw settlers and soldiers from Gaza by the end of 2005 have risen ahead of a parliamentary vote next week that could make or break his government.

Mr Sharon's far-right opponents say a withdrawal would be a "reward for Palestinian terrorism". Militants want to claim any Israeli pullout from Gaza as a victory. Israel is determined to smash them first.

Earlier yesterday, Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated into Israel from Gaza. A soldier was also killed in a Hamas bomb attack in the southern part of the coastal strip, near the Egyptian border.