Two Palestinian resistance men dressed as Jewish seminary students barged into an internationally illegal settlement Friday, killing 2 settlers before being shot dead themselves. The attack came hours after Israeli occupation troops reoccupied a northern chunk of the Gaza Strip. The occupation soldiers in Gaza surrounded Palestinian houses, set up military posts in abandoned buildings and dug trenches in the most significant reoccupation in 29 months of fighting.

Also in Gaza on Friday, three Palestinians were killed after firing at a convoy of Jewish settlers, the occupation army said. Occupation soldiers escorting the convoy returned fire, killing the assailants, which the resistance Jihad group claimed as members.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, near the West Bank town of Hebron.

The attackers, dressed in customary clothing worn by religious Jews, entered the gated settlement and walked into a home. The attackers killed the husband and wife inside and injured six other people.

It was unclear how the attackers were killed but one of them had an explosives belt strapped to his body. The explosives did not detonate.

Later Friday, the occupation army said it shot and killed two Palestinian resistance men trying to infiltrate the nearby internationally illegal settlement of Nahal Negohot.

Palestinians view Jewish settlers as legitimate targets in their struggle for independence. The settlements are one of the greatest obstacles to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

PHTO CAPTION

An Israeli is wheeled into the emergency ward of a Jerusalem hospital after being wounded in an attack on the internationally illegal Jewish settlement of Kiryat Araba, near the West Bank town of Hebron Friday, March 7, 2003. (AP Photo/Zo