Gaza City - An explosion ripped through a Hamas training camp in the southern Gaza Strip Tuesday, killing at least two militants of the radical Islamic movement and wounding two others, police and medical officials said. 

"The paramedics evacuated two dead bodies and two wounded persons and we expect more casualties because the blast destroyed the whole facility," said Gaza emergency services chief Mo'aweya Hassanein. 

The training centre of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, is located in a former Israeli settlement near the southern Gaza City of Khan Younis. 

Israel evacuated its 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip as part of its 2005 unilateral withdrawal from the coastal strip. 

Palestinian security officials said the militants were training when the explosion occurred. 

The officials ruled out that the blast was caused by an Israeli raid. Hamas, in de-facto control of Gaza, and Israel have agreed on an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that took effect in the Hamas- controlled Strip on June 19. 

An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv also said the Israeli army was not involved. (dpa)