Israelis kill two Palestinian militants

NABLUS, West Bank, July 29 (Reuters) An Israeli undercover unit shot dead two Palestinians militants, including a senior Islamic Jihad militant, in the West Bank today, Palestinian armed groups said.

The troops exchanged fire with a group of Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Nablus, according to Palestinian witnesses and the Israeli army.

The soldiers killed a militant from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, and a senior militant from Islamic Jihad, who the Palestinian witnesses said had appeared to be the army's target in the raid.

The armed groups have killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.

Palestinian witnesses said the Israelis used guns with silencers to shoot the men and then left the area.

Last week, the Israeli army destroyed a Nablus government compound where Israel believed Hizbollah militants and others planning attacks on the Jewish state were holed up.

Israel launched an offensive against Hizbollah in Lebanon after the guerrilla group captured two soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. It also has stepped up raids in the Gaza Strip to get militants there to free another soldier.

Palestinians are seeking a state in Gaza and the West Bank.

REUTERS SRS BST0143