Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza Strip

GAZA, June 2 (Reuters) Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip today 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.

Yesterday, 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, which is a hotbed of terrorist activity,'' 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''.

The military spokeswoman said Israeli troops had found three explosives laboratories in Nablus since the beginning of the year along with numerous explosive belts being prepared for suicide bombers.

''It is the capital of terrorism in the West Bank. That is why it is important for the soldiers to go in there and prevent terrorists from leaving there (to attack Israel),'' the spokeswoman said.

Earlier today, Israeli troops arrested four Palestinians in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, security sources said. They said the four men were brothers, but did not give their affiliations.

The Israeli army said that four people had been taken in for questioning for firing rockets from Gaza into Israel, but all four had been released.

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