Palestinians: Israeli airstrike kills 2 militants in southern Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- An Israeli airstrike Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip killed two Palestinian militants and wounded three people, medical officials said.

The airstrike took place in Rafah, which borders Egypt. Medical officials said two members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades -- a violent group linked to President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party -- were killed. Two people were seriously wounded, and a 6-year-old boy was wounded in the legs.

The army said it had targeted a vehicle carrying a group of militants involved in attacks on Israel. But witnesses said the missile struck a group of pedestrians.

The airstrike occurred shortly after Israeli ground troops attacked a target along the Israeli border in northern Gaza. Witnesses said there were no injuries.

The Israeli army said it had targeted a militant who had tried to fire a homemade rocket into Israel. Earlier Saturday, a homemade rocket struck a house in the Israeli border town of Sderot, lightly wounding one person.

The army also announced plans to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by early today, a a move that would meet a key condition of the Aug. 14 cease-fire that ended its war against Hezbollah guerrillas.

The officials said Saturday that the army was preparing to wrap up the pullout overnight, but the plans could change depending on conditions on the ground. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Israel has delayed the withdrawal amid disagreements regarding the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon.

Israel sent troops into Lebanon shortly after Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two soldiers and killed three others in a July 12 cross-border raid. More than 150 Israelis and 850 Lebanese were killed in 34 days of fighting.

Israeli officials have been reluctant to withdraw the last of the troops, now thought to number several thousand after peaking around 30,000 during the fighting.

They cited disagreements over the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon, which has long been a stronghold of Hezbollah. Israel is concerned about the force's ability to prevent Hezbollah, which launched 4,000 rockets into Israel during the fighting, from rearming.

The U.N. resolution calls for 15,000 peacekeepers to work with an equal number of Lebanese soldiers to prevent another outbreak of fighting. It mandates a full Israeli pullout and requires the south be kept weapons-free except for arms approved by the Lebanese government.

Some 10,000 Lebanese soldiers and more than 5,000 U.N. troops have been deployed in the south.