Militants killed as violence flares along Gaza border

ISRAEL and Hamas traded threats of war amid fresh skirmishes along the tense Gaza Strip border yesterday in which two militants were killed.

The escalation of violence came on the eve of the second anniversary of Israel’s devastating assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip — known as Operation Cast Lead — and follows weeks of rocket fire from Gaza and a string of retaliatory Israeli air raids.

Turning up the rhetoric, both sides said they were prepared for another round of bloodletting.