The two Hamas gunmen, killed in a raid in the West Bank city of Hebron, were involved in the shooting deaths of four Israelis near the city on Aug. 31, just as new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were getting under way, the Israeli military said. Media aligned with Hamas in the Gaza Strip also said the men were behind the Hebron shooting.

Soldiers with jeeps and an armored bulldozer surrounded the militants' hideout before dawn. The military said the men rebuffed calls to surrender and began shooting at the troops outside. The soldiers then returned fire, killing both militants, the military said.