A special-forces unit Friday found two Palestinians who cut through the fence with Gaza in an apparent attempt to find work. The police and the Israel Defense Forces had set up roadblocks in the south and center of the country in the fear the two Gazans were terrorists. The moves snarled traffic along Road 6 and at the entrances to Tel Aviv.

The pair, who were apparently seeking work, came through the security fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel at around 3:30 P.M. near Kibbutz Mefalsim, southwest of Sderot, and were apprehended in the Arab town of Tira near Kfar Sava in the late evening. Shortly after they were arrested, the man who had allegedly driven them into Israel was arrested in Bat Yam.

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The IDF is to begin an investigation into the incident in the coming days.

Troops from the Armored Corps contingent in charge of the area of the infiltration rushed to the scene as soon as the pair was spotted near the fence. But by the time the soldiers arrived, a van had picked up the two Palestinians and left.

It is unusual for people to cross the fence by cutting through it, and security forces initially suspected that the two Gazans were terrorists, though the police also received information that they might have infiltrated to seek work.

Numerous police, volunteers and a helicopter were called in to help with the search for the van, whose make and license plate number the Shin Bet security service gave the police.

The southern district police began the search after the IDF reported that two Gaza residents were seen cutting through the fence and sprinting toward a waiting vehicle.

"We set up the roadblocks in the places we usually set roadblocks up in cases like this," said a police source in the Lachish region, north of the Gaza Strip.

But they soon realized that the van had left the Lachish area and had reached Kiryat Ekron south of Rehovot. By that time the police realized the pair were unarmed and the concerns eased that they had come to carry out a terror attack.

The search continued northward and focused on the area around Road 6. Roadblocks were also placed at the entrance to cities from Hadera in the west to Beit She'an in the east.

The northern district of the police also declared a state of alert Friday evening due to the infiltration, with roadblocks on Road 6 leading to the Wadi Ara area.

The two Palestinians were apprehended by a special-forces unit on the main street of the town of Tira, east of Kfar Sava.

The pair was taken for interrogation, where they told investigators they had no intention of carrying out a terror attack.

The Gaza Brigade is to begin an investigation of the incident in the coming days. Attempts are made daily to cross into Israel, but most infiltrators are stopped on the Gaza side of the fence, or shortly after crossing into the country. This time, they apparently evaded capture thanks to the car that picked them up.

The incident comes on the heels of other embarrassing incidents in recent weeks, including a soldier left behind sleeping in the Gaza Strip by his unit, whose commander returned to pick him up a short while later.