Palestinian gunmen killed 'in Israeli attack'

Two Palestinian gunmen, including a local militia leader suspected of sending two suicide bombers to Israel last month, were killed early today in what witnesses said was an Israeli helicopter attack.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The bodies were found in a village near the West Bank town of Jenin.

One of the men was identified as Ali Ajouri, 23, a local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade militia in the Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus. The militia is linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.

The body of the second man was badly burned, making immediate identification impossible.

Witnesses and Fatah officials said that early today, army vehicles entered the village of Jabaa near Jenin, and Israeli troops began firing machine guns.

‘‘We heard shooting. We saw two helicopters in the sky. The helicopters were shooting and the jeeps were shooting,’’ said Walid Alawneh, 26, a resident of Jabaa.

At daybreak, villagers found the two bodies in a field near Jabaa.

Israel suspected that Ajouri sent two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Tel Aviv on July 17, killing two Israelis and three foreign workers.

Israeli troops recently demolished the home of the Ajouri family in the Askar refugee camp and ordered the deportation of a brother and sister to the Gaza Strip. The deportation order is being challenged in court.