Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza Strip

Gaza: Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip yesterday near the border fence with Israel, local residents said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman in Tel Aviv had no immediate information on the incident.

Residents near the scene of the shooting said the two Palestinians killed by Israeli fire were workers at a garbage dump located close to the Israeli-built frontier fence.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged in recent weeks amid rocket attacks from Gaza and Israeli air raids against militants in the territory.

On Friday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian youths in the northern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel. An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops had shot at suspicious figures trying to plant an object close to the barrier.

The Israeli military has declared areas near the border fence, where militants have often tried to plant explosives, no-go zones for Palestinians. Israeli troops and settlers pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005.

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army blew up several cement barriers in a raid in the town of Nablus. The barriers were used by Palestinian militants to prevent Israeli vehicles from driving through the streets, witnesses said.

Nihad Masri, the acting mayor of Nablus, said a few people sustained minor injuries from the blasts in the old city.

"The Palestinians had put up huge concrete blocks so Israeli soldiers would not have access to operate in Nablus," an Israeli army spokeswoman said.

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi said the army's action was "a new crime coming in the context of Israeli escalation against the Palestinian Authority and people".