Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians

HEBRON, Sept 23 (AFP): Israeli troops on Tuesday killed two Palestinians in the West Bank suspected of the murders of three Jewish teenagers in June, which sparked events leading to the bloody war in Gaza.

The killings, during a raid on the two suspects' hideout, came as Israeli and Palestinian delegations were to negotiate in Cairo a more permanent Gaza ceasefire, almost putting the talks in jeopardy, a Palestinian official said.

Amer Abu Eisha, 32, and Marwan Qawasmeh, 29, whom Israel accused of kidnapping and murdering the teens, were killed "in an exchange of fire" in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the army said.

The two men were hiding out in a house in Hebron and killed when gunfire broke out during an operation by the Shin Bet internal security services and the army's anti-terror unit, it said in a statement.

Residents told AFP they heard shots fired during the assault in what appeared to be a firefight between the suspects and security forces, and that the army had also broken down the doors of several shops in the area.

Dozens of local youths threw stones at the soldiers near the scene of the raid, and following the shooting, a general strike was being observed across the city.

Sporadic clashes between stone-throwing youths and soldiers continued during the day, an AFP correspondent said, but ceased briefly during the funerals of Qawasmeh and Abu Eisha.

Some 3,000 mourners attended the processions and burials, with many waving the flags of Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza and has a large support base in Hebron.

The Shin Bet said in a statement the army had also arrested several other Palestinians who had helped hide Qawasmeh and Abu Eisha after the teens were killed.

"Troops also arrested Bashar Qawasme, Mahmud Qawasme and Taer Qawasme, the sons of Arafat Qawasme who was himself arrested on July 14 on charges of helping the killers hide after the murder of the teens," it said.

The suspects "no longer pose a threat to Israeli civilians," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said on Twitter, posting pictures of the two men.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the operation, saying the suspects had been "dealt with."

"I said that whoever perpetrated the kidnapping and murder of our boys would bear the consequences... that we would pursue the enemy, find them and not return until they had been dealt with," he said in a statement.

The June abduction of Gilad Frenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach from a hitchhiking stop near Hebron sparked a huge Israeli search operation in which hundreds of Palestinians were arrested and at least five killed.