Two Palestinian activists from the Palestinian resistance group Hamas were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli occupation troops in central Bethlehem, relatives of the slain men said Wednesday. The two men were identified as Nader Jarawish, 35, and Ala Ayad, 24, from the refugee camp of Aida in this southern West Bank town.

Both men were wanted by the Israeli occupation forces, relatives said.

Two other Palestinians were killed in the same shooting -- the 28-year-old driver of the car the two activists were in, and a 10-year-old girl who was travelling in a car behind which was accidentally hit.

But the occupation army claimed that all three men in the car, including the driver, were Hamas activists who had opened fire on an undercover occupation army unit operating in the area.

"The force returned fire towards the car and during the clashes, another car appeared on the scene and was hit," the occupation army said in a statement.

According to the statement, Ayad was a Hamas explosives engineer who was directly responsible for recruiting and sending the resistance bomber who blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem last November, killing 12 passengers, most of them women and children.

Commenting on the death of the little girl, the occupation army said she and three other Palestinians in the second car were taken for treatment at an Israeli hospital but that she died from her injuries on the way from the scene.

"The Israel Defence Forces regrets the injury of innocent civilians," the statement said, claiming that an investigation into the incident was underway.

PHOTO CAPTION

Members of the militant Palestinian movement Hamas wave national and Islamist flags, praising God and his prophet Mohammed [PBUH], during a rally held in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City (AFP/File/Mohammed Saber)