Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resume talks late next month on cementing the Gaza cease-fire agreement signed last month.

The decision was reached Tuesday during Egyptian-mediated talks, which were delayed by several hours as the Palestinians considered backing out over Israel’s killing of two Hamas members hours before the discussions were set to begin.

Israel said the two men abducted and killed three Israeli youths in the occupied West Bank in June.

The attack triggered a chain of events, culminating in a bloody war in Gaza from July to August.

Army spokesman Peter Lerner said Tuesday that troops killed Amer Abu Aisheh and Marwan Qawasmeh in an exchange of gunfire at a house in the West Bank city of Hebron.

He said the military confirmed the killing of one suspect and believed the other was dead, but did not have visual confirmation.

The June 12 abduction set off a massive manhunt that included the arrests of hundreds of Hamas members.  The militant group initially denied involvement, but later acknowledged responsibility for abducting the teens.

Israeli extremists later kidnapped and killed a Palestinian youth in an apparent revenge attack.

The incidents helped spark a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis.