Israeli occupation troops killed two Palestinian Authority intelligence officers early Tuesday in the West Bank town of Halhoul, north of Hebron. The incident took place as occupation soldiers were searching for wanted activists, Israeli media sources reported. One wanted Palestinian was detained.

The head of the PA intelligence in Halhoul was among the dead.

Earlier, the Israeli occupation army said its soldiers arrested armed Palestinians, allegedly, en route to committing an attack in Israel.

The occupation soldiers were patrolling the "seam" between Israel and the West Bank when they spotted a car near Nazlat-Issa, north of Tulkarem. Upon searching the car, they found two Kalashnikov rifles and five cartridges of ammunition, arresting the car's eight occupants, Haaretz reported.

They later discovered that at least two of the passengers had been planning to enter Israel to carry out a shooting attack, according to the Israeli report.

Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense committee Monday that "if there is not a feeling that we are moving toward a diplomatic solution, we will see a return of the terrible terror attacks - as bad or worse than we have known in the past - within a few weeks."