Gaza City  - Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip Thursday morning, Palestinian medical officials and an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said soldiers stationed on the border spotted two gunmen approaching the fence, entered the salient and opened fire.

They shot one and, after a short chase, the second as well. An AK- 47 semi-automatic rifle and ammunition was found on the second body, the spokeswoman said.

Local Palestinian media reports said the two were killed as they tried to storm what they described as an army "post" in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern strip.

The fatalities had belonged to the armed wing of the Fatah movement and to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (dpa)