ARABS-ISRAEL - Aug. 23 - Two Militants Killed.

Israeli soldiers kill two Palestinian militants trying to infiltrate the Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip. The militants, dressed in Israeli army uniforms and armed with assault rifles and hand grenades, are shot dead in exchanges of fire with troops after being spotted near the security fence. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group linked to Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the attempted raid. Hours earlier, PA Interior Minister Abdal Razzak Al Yahya failed to convince 13 militant and nationalist Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to back an end to attacks against Israelis and accept Israel's plan to ease its military clampdown. Aenior Hamas member Mahmoud Zahar told Reuters: "Yahya told us about his theory regarding the resistance and the uprising. He sees that the forms of the resistance do not serve the Palestinian cause. No one attending agreed with him".