Israel said its troops killed two Palestinian gunmen from the Islamist Hamas
movement on Tuesday near the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said two suspicious figures approached an Israeli force conducting a routine operation in southern Gaza against rocket launchers who attack southern Israel. Troops opened fire, and identified a hit, the military said.
The clash took place in an area rocket squads frequently use to strike two Gaza-Israel crossings, Kerem Shalom and Sufa.
The incident occurred after a Hamas source said the group's armed wing had claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed a woman in southern Israel on Monday. It was the first such attack inside Israel claimed by the group since 2004.
Israeli troops frequently carry out raids in the Gaza Strip to hunt militants.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June after routing secular Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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