The latest reports show that the Israeli military shot dead two militants belonging to the Islamist Hamas movement. The killing took place near the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The two deaths were confirmed by media sources who went to the hospital where the milintats were brought after the shooting.

The Israeli army confirmed the killings on Tuesday.

The death of the two gunmen comes after Hamas acknowledged that its armed wing was responsible for the suicide bombing that killed a woman in southern Israel on Monday.
Hamas haven’t carried out an attack like this one since 2004.

However, the responsibility for the suicide bombing was claimed by three Palestinian factions: the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and the United Resistance Brigades.

"Troops spotted two suspicious men approaching them and identified hitting them," said an army spokesman.

The Israeli military carry out numerous raids in the Gaza Strip to hunt militants and the Hamas militants managed to take control of the region in June after routing secular Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The soldiers operating in that sector spotted two suspects and opened fire. They were hit," an Israeli army spokesman said.

The two militants were identified as Mahmud Abu Taher and Baker Abu Rajal.

According to the police statement, the second militant was shot before he had a chance to detonate his explosives belt.

Just a few hours after the suicide attack took place, the Israeli military gunned down three members of the Popular Resistance Committees during a raid in the Gaza Strip.