Israeli forces enter Gaza, kill two people

(Press TV) Israeli troops have once again entered the Gaza Strip Israeli troops have once again entered the Gaza Strip, shooting dead two Palestinians north of the Kerem Shalom crossing. While the Israeli military has confirmed that its forces were the ones that advanced on the men and killed them Friday, in its statement it claimed that the Palestinians had plans to plant bombs. An army force "crossed the fence and fired at the gunmen, who also began firing. During the exchange of fire, the gunmen were killed, and on their bodies the forces uncovered an explosive device, two AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and military vests," the Israeli statement said. Gaza is ruled by the Hamas movement, the democratically-elected government of the Palestinian people. Hamas rule, however, has been confined to the Gaza Strip in recent years. The intrusion into Gaza comes just days after Israel launched air strikes and injured 5 Palestinians in the impoverished ghetto. Israel also carried out a major military operation against the Gazan population during the three weeks that followed December 27, allegedly to halt retaliatory rocket-fire from the blockaded strip. The assault claimed the lives of 1,330 Palestinians and left 5,450 others wounded -- a large number of them women and children. Israel has been hitting targets in the Palestinian territory on a regular basis despite a ceasefire following the Israeli operation. While Israeli targets range from farmers and regular civilians to Hamas fighters, almost all those killed in Israeli operations are claimed by Tel Aviv to have hostile intentions. Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip have promised to end the rocket attacks into Israel should Tel Aviv stop its military operations against the Palestinians and lift the blockade on the strip.