Soldiers of the Nahal Brigade reached a house in the village to arrest the wanted men. After surrounding the house, soldiers called out to residents to leave the building. When the fugitives failed to surrender, soldiers began demolishing the house in an attempt to force them out. When that failed, soldiers stormed the building, and the two fugitives, who were in a hideout whose entrance was hidden by a gas canister, opened fire on the soldiers. The soldiers returned fire, killing them. Officials said the two were senior Hamas members. Elsewhere in the West Bank, security forces arrested 7 Palestinian fugitives in raids in Nablus and Idna northeast of Hebron and Tarkumiya northwest of Hebron overnight Wednesday. Shots were fired at security forces deployed in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus - no one was wounded in the attack. Also overnight Wednesday, security forces arrested four Palestinian terror suspects near Netzarim in northern Gaza. During the operation, air force helicopters fired missiles into open areas to prevent armed Palestinians from reaching the site.
In the Gaza Strip, three Kassam rockets were fired at Israeli settlements in southern Gaza early Wednesday morning - no one was wounded in the attack.