Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinian gunmen

GAZA, Apr 12 (Reuters) An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian gunmen today near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the men approached the Israeli-Gaza border fence while holding rifles and an Israeli aircraft fired at them. Palestinian security sources and medics said an Israeli drone had dropped several missiles in the area.

Palestinian security sources said the men were militants from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group. The men were on their way to plant bombs, the security sources said.

Israel has increased airstrikes and artillery shelling of Gaza in response to militants firing makeshift rockets into Israel. Israel has intensified the shelling since a Palestinian suicide bomber killed four Israelis in the West Bank last month.

The Israeli army killed a Palestinian girl and wounded 12 others, including five children, on Monday when an artillery shell hit their house in northern Gaza.

The Jewish state says it is not intentionally targeting civilians and has warned residents to leave parts of northern Gaza from where the makeshift rockets are regularly launched.

Reuters SRS BST2140