Four foreign workers are killed in Gaza Strip

Two Palestinian workers and a Chinese national were killed in an attack on a Gaza Strip Jewish settlement claimed by the Islamic militant group Hamas, Israeli army and medical sources have said.

The Chinese worker and a Palestinian were killed at the site, with another five Palestinians injured, one of whom died of his injuries late yesterday, medical sources said.

A Palestinian had both legs blown off by what appeared to be a bomb.

The device had been placed in a small room attached to the greenhouse that the workers used for breaks. Its walls were splattered with blood, informs NDTV.

In the West Bank, &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/hotspots/2002/03/07/26851.html ' target=_blank>Israeli forces shot dead an Islamic Jihad commander, Maraweh Ikmil, who the army said had planned to send suicide bombers into the Jewish state.

The armed group then fired rockets at the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2001/06/19/8090.html ' target=_blank>Ganei Tal settlement in Gaza, killing two Palestinian farmers and a Chinese worker.

The army said the West Bank killing had not violated the ceasefire Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced four months ago.

Palestinian officials have condemned Israeli incursions into the West Bank and Gaza as threatening a truce seen as crucial to the successful implementation of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and a corner of the West Bank beginning in mid-August.