Gaza City /Tel Aviv  - Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel killed one Palestinian and injured another on Monday, Gaza medical officials and witnesses said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv confirmed the incident.

She said soldiers on the border spotted "suspicious" Palestinians inside the Strip approaching the border fence in the afternoon. The troops had called out in Arabic for them to stop, and then fired warning shots in the air.

When the Palestinians continued approaching the fence, by now in a so-called "no-gone" zone, the soldiers opened fire and reported hitting two of them, she said.

Palestinian witnesses said two young men had approached an area in the al-Atatra neighborhood north of Gaza city, not far from the border between northern Gaza Strip and Israel, and the Israeli soldiers had opened fire.

They said one of the two was injured and taken immediately to a local Palestinian hospital by a local ambulance.

The second had been critically wounded, they said. He had been transferred to a hospital in Israel, where he died of his wounds. The Israeli military could not confirm his death.

The witnesses said it was not clear if the two Palestinians had been armed, or trying to attack the Israeli soldiers stationed in the area. The body of the fatality was due to be transferred to the Palestinians later Monday night.

The Israeli military spokeswoman added that Palestinians fired three projectiles at Israel from the Gaza Strip after the incident. One soldier was lightly wounded by shrapnel, she said.  (dpa)