JERUSALEM: Israeli troops on Tuesday shot dead two Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, an army spokeswoman said.
"Two infiltrators were identified in southern Israel, near Nirim," a spokeswoman said, referring to an Israeli area on the southern sector of the border not far from the Gazan city of Khan Yunis.
"There was an exchange of fire in which they were killed," she said, adding there were no Israeli injuries.
Witnesses on the Gaza side of the border confirmed an exchange of fire followed by Israeli shelling, and an AFP photographer saw an Israeli helicopter firing missiles.
There was no immediate report of casualties from the Palestinian side as ambulances were not able to enter the area.
But the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, which came after a similar raid less than two weeks ago in which two teenagers were shot dead after breaching the border fence.
The Islamist movement Hamas ruling Gaza has tried to preserve calm in Gaza since the end of Israel’s devastating assault on the strip in January 2009, but smaller groups still fire rockets and trade fire with Israeli troops.
It was unclear if the latest attack was linked to Monday’s deadly Israeli maritime raid on an international aid convoy bound for Gaza.
