Israeli troops shot dead an armed Palestinian and seriously wounded a second as the pair approached a Gaza-Israel border crossing before dawn yesterday, Palestinian hospital officials said.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said the two were members of the group, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party.
Al-Aqsa said the two were shot during a "heroic battle" against Israeli forces.
The Israeli army said troops had identified two armed men approaching the border fence near the Karni crossing and opened fire, hitting them.
Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli troops prevented a Palestinian ambulance from approaching the two men for an hour.
The Israeli army denied that it held up the ambulance, saying Palestinian police searched the area before letting the medics in.
The Palestinian militants were dressed in military fatigues and were found with assault rifles, the hospital officials said.
settlement blocs
Meanwhile, Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defined on Tuesday the major settlement blocs he wants Israel to retain in a final peace deal with the Palestinians.
He cited the two biggest Jewish settlements, Maale Adumim and Ariel, as well as the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, and said Israel could not give up the strategically important Jordan Valley to the east.
He also indicated that some West Bank territory would have to be given up as settlements were consolidated.
"We will separate from much of the Palestinian population that lives in [the West Bank]," he said in a television interview that echoed comments he has made since becoming interim prime minister last month.
"That obligates us to separate from territories that Israel is in today." he said.
"We will protect a united Jerusalem and we will protect the central settlement blocs," he said.
"The [future] borders are not where the state of Israel is today," he added.
Olmert said he aimed to carry out the plan after the election.
separation
"The direction is clear: We are aiming for separation with the Palestinians [in the West Bank]. We are aiming to fix the final borders of the state of Israel," he said.
In response, Palestinian Authority minister Ghassan al-Khatib said: "The Israeli leadership can ensure progress towards peace and security only by departing from Sharon's policies of settlement expansion and unilateralism."
The unilsateral withdrawal that Israel completed from Gaza in September under Sharon was a widely popular move among Israelis who saw little strategic value in the territory.
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