Four Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack in Israel. Two Hamas members, wearing Palestinian police uniforms, cut through a security fence between the southern Gaza Strip and Israel early Wednesday morning and opened fire with automatic weapons and grenades on an Israeli military outpost. In the attack and ensuing gunfight, a company commander and three soldiers were killed. Two other Israeli soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously. All the Israeli fatalities were members of a Bedouin border patrol unit. The two terrorists, one of whom belonged to the Palestinian naval forces, were killed during the gun battle and an ensuing chase. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened the Security Cabinet to discuss a response. Reports said Palestinian forces fled a command center in the southern Gaza Strip, fearing an Israeli military reprisal.
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