Israeli troops crossed into Gaza and killed two Palestinian militants who were planting a bomb along the border fence before dawn Friday, the Israeli military said, AP reported.
Violence has largely abated along the tense frontier since Israel's devastating offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers early this year, but sporadic border violence and rocket fire have continued.
Soldiers posted along the border spotted the two men planting a bomb near the fence and crossed into Gaza to engage them, the military said. The gunmen were killed in the ensuing firefight.
The military says the men were carrying rifles, grenades and an improvised explosive device. Militants have often used such devices to target Israeli military patrols along the border, planting bombs under cover of darkness and detonating them later by remote control.
It was not immediately clear to which Palestinian militant group the fighters belonged. Most violent incidents in recent months have been claimed by small militant factions and not by Hamas, which might be trying to avoid provoking further Israeli retaliation.
Gaza is still struggling to rebuild after the offensive Israel launched nearly five months ago in an attempt to halt years of rocket fire at Israeli towns. The three-week offensive claimed some 1,400 lives in Gaza, including more than 900 civilians, according to Palestinian officials and human rights groups.
Israel says the death toll was lower than that and that most of the dead were militants. It blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying the militants used schools, mosques and residential areas for cover. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the fighting.
Israel pulled all of its troops out of Gaza after the offensive ended in mid-January. But small forces have occasionally crossed back inside in short incursions to battle militants or defuse bombs along the border fence.
Friday's gunfight took place near one of the border crossings where Israel allows a trickle of humanitarian aid into the territory. Gaza has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized power there nearly two years ago.