IDF kills two Hamas men crawling near Gaza border

Palestinian officials said Israel Defense Forces troops killed two armed Hamas militants near Bureij in the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning.

The IDF said soldiers had opened fire on two figures they spotted crawling near the border fence, hitting at least one of them.

A statement issued by Hamas said the two men were killed while approaching an IDF outpost in order to plant a bomb.

Later Sunday morning, Palestinians fired a Qassam rocket at a town next to Sderot in the western Negev. There were no reported casualties.

Also on Sunday, three mortar shells landed in a settlement in the Gush Katif bloc, according to the Itim news agency. No injuries or damage was reported.

IDF kills Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commanderIDF troops killed Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander Zakariya Zubeidi's right-hand man on Saturday in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Zubeidi's deputy, Thaer Abu Kamal, had taken over for Mahmoud Assad Abu Halifa, who was killed by the IDF in September.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are affilated with the Fatah movement, the main faction that makes up the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Soldiers from the Egoz guerilla warfare and Nahal Brigade infantry units surrounded the house in which Abu Kamal was hiding, and called on all the residents to leave.

After Abu Kamal refused calls to turn himself in, the troops proceeded to fire anti-tank missiles at the building and demolished it with a bulldozer. Abu Kamal's body was later found in the debris. No shots were fired during the operation.

On Saturday evening, security forces arrested a Fatah militant in the village of Dura near the West Bank city of Hebron.

Also Saturday, Palestinian gunmen shot at troops operating in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. No casualties were caused in this incident.

Gaza settlers fume over lack of response to mortar fireSeveral dozen Gaza settlers blocked major junctions in the Strip on Friday and set tires alight in protest over what they perceive as a lack of a sufficient response to the barrage of mortars fired by Palestinian militants.

"[Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon is trying to break the residents of Gush Katif and to achieve political objectives by not acting to prevent the firing," Eren Sternberg, a settlement spokesman, told Army Radio.

Palestinians continued to fire mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements and Israel Defense Forces outposts over the weekend, beginning shortly after the army wound up its second operation in a week in Khan Yunis. A few hours after the operation ended Thursday, a resident of Gush Katif was wounded as Palestinian militants fired dozens of mortar shells at various parts of the Gaza Strip.

According to the IDF, all terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are involved in firing shells, but Hamas is leading the assault, the intensity of which has increased in recent days. Settlers said the attack was one of the heaviest in the last four years of fighting.

	Palestinian mourners carrying the body of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gunman Jamal Khalid during his funeral in Tul Karm on Friday. (AP)