AP Features, November 24th, 2007
Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian men who approached the border fence separating Gaza from Israel overnight, Palestinian medical staff said.
The two brothers, in their forties, had walked close to an Israel-Gaza border terminal late on Friday night. Local residents said the men often scoured the area for cement and other building materials to sell. On Saturday morning, Palestinian ambulances evacuated their bodies from the scene.
An army statement said the two men appeared suspicious and were shot as they moved in darkness toward troops at the border fence, which is in an area off limits to Palestinians. The area is frequently used by militants trying to fire rockets at Israel. However, other Palestinians enter the danger zone to scavenge for building materials, to shoot birds, or to try and sneak into Israel to work.
Also overnight in the Gaza Strip, a bomb went off close to a Hamas police building in Gaza. There were no injuries. There have been a series of bombs placed close to Hamas institutions in recent months, following its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in mid-June from rival Palestinian group Fatah. There have been no claims of responsibility for the blasts, which have unnerved — rather than physically harmed — Hamas officials in Gaza. Hamas has blamed rival Fatah, which rules the West Bank, for the attacks.
On Saturday, Hamas' interior ministry in Gaza said they arrested a "number of trouble makers" they accused of blowing up a police jeep belonging to the militant group on Thursday.
Nobody was harmed in that explosion, which destroyed a standing car.
Hamas said the perpetrators were "from the leadership of Fatah" but provided no further details.
