Gaza: Two Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli soldiers near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said two Islamic Jihad gunmen were shot and killed when they resisted arrest and shot at troops from within a cave where they were hiding.
As many as 180 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip to recover a soldier who was captured during a cross border skirmish.
Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, was abducted during an attack on the military post near the Kerem Shalom border post between Israel, Gaza and Egypt on 25 June 2006.
